'Veronica Mars' Recruits Dawnn Lewis As Neptune's New Chief Of Police
Rob Thomas has recruited a member of his iZombie crew to join the Veronica Mars cast in a new role for the eight-episode Hulu revival series. Dawnn Lewis has been tapped as the new police chief of Neptune, which is a new role for the series and a new position for Neptune, which has finally gone from being a small California town to an incorporated town.
There's a new sheriff in town, but she's one step above a sheriff. Dawnn Lewis has been cast in the pivotal recurring role of Marcia Langdon, the new police chief that has taken on the job since the small town of Neptune has been incorporated in the new revival of Veronica Mars, according to TV Line.
But Marcia Langdon isn't a wholly new character. She was first introduced in the Veronica Mars book Mr. Kiss and Tell, the second book for the franchise penned by Thomas and released in 2015. It adds more evidence to the theory that the Hulu revival series, which takes place after the events of the 2014 movie, will draw heavily from the Veronica Mars novels. The revival's spring break setting, for example, bears many similarities to the 2014 Veronica Mars book The Thousand Dollar Tan Line.
However, Thomas has previously insisted that the revival series won't exactly adapt the book, tweeting, "Like The Thousand Dollar Tan Line, the mini-series will be set against a Spring Break backdrop, but TDTL is not the story we're telling. We're five years after the movie."
Like THE THOUSAND DOLLAR TAN LINE, the mini-series will be set against a Spring Break backdrop, but TDTL is NOT the story we're telling. We're five years after the movie. Books are 98% canon. Pony is included. Marcia Langdon is police chief. Spoiler: Neptune finally incorporated.
— Rob Thomas (@RobThomas) September 20, 2018
Lewis' character is a breath of fresh air after Neptune has suffered years of corrupt sheriffs (aside from Enrico Colantoni's Keith Mars, of course) that obstructed Veronica's investigations and covered up the seedy goings-on of Neptune. I haven't read the Veronica Mars books, but it seems like she's staunchly anti-corruption, taking down the slimy former Sheriff Daniel Lamb (Jerry O'Connell in the film).
The Veronica Mars revival will see the return of Kristen Bell as the titular girl detective Veronica Mars, as well as series vets Enrico Colantoni (Keith), Jason Dohring (Logan), Percy Daggs III (Wallace Fennel), Francis Capra (Weevil), Ryan Hansen (Dick Casablancas), and David Starzyk (Richard Casablancas). Production for Veronica Mars is currently underway in Los Angeles.