Timothy Olyphant Returns As Raylan Givens, See The First Look At Justified Revival

Timothy Olyphant looks like an older and wiser Raylan Givens in the first look at Justified: City Primeval, the upcoming sequel series coming later this year.

By Robert Scucci | Updated

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2023 is shaping up to be a terrific year for Timothy Olyphant, and he’s beyond excited to reprise his role as Raylan Givens in a new spinoff entitled Justified: City Primeval. According to Vulture, Given’s story will pick up 10 years after the original modern Western series left off, and he will find himself leaving Miami to pursue a sociopathic criminal and his lawyer so he could bring them to justice. Not only will his daughter be a prominent character portrayed by his real-life daughter, Vivian Olyphant (in her very first acting role, according to IMDb), the spinoff will explore new territory as we will find the gunslinger out of his comfort zone as he pursues justice in a new setting in Detroit, which is a daunting change of scenery, to say the least for the Kentucky native.

The series came after Timothy Olyphant and Quentin Tarantino talked shop; the Pulp Fiction director wanted to make a film adaptation of City Primeval: High Noon in Detroit but later abandoned the idea of using the source material so he could pursue other projects. However, the seed for a miniseries had already been planted in Tim Olyphant’s head by Tarantino, and he reached out to Justified showrunner Michael Dinner to flesh out the idea of a possible spinoff. At this point, it seemed like a no-brainer, and the result came to fruition as Justified: City Primeval.

timothy olyphant
Timothy Olyphant as Raylan Givens in Justified

Extrapolating on the plot, Timothy Olyphant maps out the Justified spinoff by stating, “This story’s kind of a three-hander: It’s about Raylan, Clement Mansell, and the third character is this woman defense attorney, Carolyn Wilder, who in some ways is kind of locked at the wrists and ankles, not by her doing, to Clement Mansell.”

Raylan, a Kentucky native residing in Miami and raising his daughter for the last 10 years, finds himself in Detroit to pursue the case and bring Mansell to justice by any means necessary. Olyphant adds that a source of tension in the spinoff will involve Raylan trying to move forward with his life while trying to address his past demons and continue his work as a U.S. Marshall.

By the sounds of it, the spinoff is in good hands; it seems that Timothy Olyphant has been waiting for an opportunity to reprise his role as Raylan Givens in Justified, and everything finally fell into place for The Mandalorian star. Not only does Olyphant seem incredibly enthusiastic about his part in the FX series, but it’s also always a good look when the original showrunners participate in a revival project. With Dave Andron and Michael Dinner on board, we can expect more of the same neo-Western crime drama flavorings and new territory being explored in the upcoming miniseries.

Justified: City Primeval is slated for a 2023 summer release, but a trailer has yet to surface. If you haven’t enjoyed watching Timothy Olyphant’s portrayal of Raylan Givens on the original six-season run of Justified, you can stream the series on Hulu, Prime Video, Vudu, or Apple TV. In the meantime, we’re eagerly awaiting a trailer while we wait for our favorite gunslinger to do what he does best.