Spartacus Creator Talks 'Gods of the Arena' Finale & Epic Season 2 Plans

Six hours was far too short of time to spend among such fine gladiators in Starz’ Spartacus prequel, Gods of the Arena. Below is Entertainment Weekly's Q&A with creator Steven S. DeKnight.

They talked about the prequel’s finale and learn some details about season two (and when it airs), plus get an update on our favorite gladiator, Andy Whitfield. Warning, spoilers ahead!

Entetainment Weekly: Gratitude for this interview!
Steven S. Deknight: [Laughs] Sure, I love the way it’s starting.

So one headline is: “Gannicus lives!” Your “Han Solo meets Achilles” — as you once described him — will fight another day. Those who know the history of Spartacus figured this, but was still great to see him make it out alive.
Yes, Gannicus is one of Spartacus’ generals in the actual war. Our original plan was always to introduce Gannicus unto storyline. We will set him up to at some point to come back. It was a wonderful performance. When I designed that character I wanted something different from Spartacus and Crixus. He brought it in spades.

‘At some point’? So not necessarily at the start of season two?
We’re still working on it. We don’t know when or how. We got some very juicy ideas. He won’t pop up immediately.

So one possible take-away from this season: It’s pretty much all Lucretia’s fault. Did you hesitate to have her poison Batiatus’ father? That seems pretty heartless even for her.
The two major things she does — poisoning Titus and maneuvering her husband to kill Tullius — are all done for love. Love of her husband and her friend Gaia.

Glad to see one of my favorite characters, Ashur, got so much development this season. Is it fair to assume he will be serving Lucretia like he did Batiatus in season two?
Ashur serves himself at the end of the day. Who he aligns himself to is an ever-shifting arena all its own. I love the character at the end of season one when you realize the reason he’s bad is he just wants a hug — he wants love and respect, but he can’t get it. It was great to show how he got started, and how it all fell apart. He’s going to have some amazing stuff in season two.

Does it ever get boring dreaming up new gross ways to kill people?
Does any red-blooded American male ever get tired of that? We come up ideas in the writers room, it’s part character focused and part “wouldn’t it be cool.” Then we turn it over to the stunt team and they make it ten times better.

Also noticed you threw in some mixed martial arts moves in this season.
Yeah, it started with that first blindfold fight with Gannicus. We didn’t want him to appear to be a superhero. [Executive producer] Rob Tapert and the stunt team came up with the idea the best thing to do is get him on the ground and grapple. Then they found some natural places to throw [MMA] in.

You once again had some great dialogue, though not all of it I’m happy to have in my head: “Words fall from your mouth like shit from ass” still haunts me.
I can never tell what the audience will really love. That one I see retweeted all the time. It seems to have culturally stuck and I’m thrilled.

The show must be a blast to write.
I love the world. I love playing with the language. But it’s a pain in the ass to write. It takes twice as long. We tried writing it in modern language, then going back over it, but that didn’t work. It’s a linguistic exercise that never gets easier.

The arena is such a major part of the storyline. With the escaped gladiators on the run, will there be gladiator fights in season 2?
We definitely won’t be in the arena as much. Season 2 is the segue period where we’re segueing out of the arena. Eventually we will put an exclamation mark on never returning to the arena.

Since the show is shot entirely on greenscreen, you need a number of regular interior settings since it’s expensive to use special effects to make outdoor backgrounds. Since the gladiators are on the run, what will those settings be?
We find incredibly inventive ways of putting them inside. One of the cool things is you will never see our heroes inside a tent for season 2. I can’t tell you what we do, but they find different places to be inside. And in season 2 an equal part of the story is the villains side, which is much more interior.

Can you give fans an update on how Andy Whitfield is doing?
Last I heard he’s doing great, fighting the good fight, very much concentrating on his health and family. It’s a horrible thing, I wouldn’t wish it on anybody. I have no doubt Andy will beat it. He’s one of the strongest and most centered men I’ve ever met. He’s very private, but I hear third-hand that he looks great and is in high spirits.

Liam McIntyre, who will play Spartacus in season 2, looks a lot like Andy. How important was that?
Not important at all. We were trying to find somebody who didn’t look exactly like him. We saw a thousand people. It came down to a handful of choices. Liam was the only one who resembled Andy. What we really loved about Liam is he had an honesty and intensity and compassion and sympathy in his performance — something that Andy really brought to the role. Spartacus doesn’t come from a place of anger.

I recently re-watched season one and was really struck by Andy’s performance — he played anger well, but he was also came across really vulnerable.
He was. It was incredibly difficult finding Andy. And nearly impossible finding somebody else to step in. Liam was so good in his audition, we overlooked he had dropped like 35 pounds for another role — he looked like Christian Bale in The Fighter. We’re keeping him down in New Zealand beefing him up, putting him on the [gladiator training] program. The last picture I saw of him, I can’t believe it’s the same guy.

Lesley-Ann Brandt, Lucretia’s body slave Naevia, is also leaving the show.
Things like that are always complicated. That had to do with her contract and the lost period of time it’s taken to get back to season two. She relocated to Los Angeles and is getting work and we couldn’t make schedules to work out. We wish her the best, she was great in the role. But in this show we weather characters dying and being recast.

So season 2 is not coming until next January right?
Unfortunately, we cannot air it until the end of January. Our post-production process takes so long. We can start airing it sooner, but we’d have to air five episodes and go on a long break. And Starz has Camelot in the spring and Torchwood in the summer.

And Gods of the Arena will be out on DVD when?
I don’t know the official date. I will assume it will be around the same time season one, which was September. We also like to pack in a lot of extras. [Note: Starz confirms September is the target, but adds this plan is still tentative.]

Since you have one season of Spartacus done, and you have the second mapped out, and you know the overall story of Spartacus that you’re telling from history — you must have some idea at this point how many seasons this story should be. So what’s that number?
It’s entangled with other numbers. One is budget — the show gets more expensive each season. The other is ratings. I could go anywhere from three to six seasons. Budget is not a small part of it. As the gladiator war continues and Spartacus’ army grows, it becomes more difficult to produce on a TV budget.

So is it fair to assume season two has a bigger budget than the first season?
Yes. The budget was always planned to go up a bit.

Anything else about season 2 you can tease to?
It will be epic. In true Spartacus fashion, nothing will be easy for our heroes or our villains. The thing I love about this world is you have villains who are not all bad and you have villains who will try to screw other villains — and the same is true on the heroes side. The scope and scale we are attempting is much larger than anything we have done before. And I’m guessing a few beloved characters may die.

Liam McIntyre is the New Spartacus

After an exhaustive search, Starz has officially tapped Aussie actor Liam McIntyre (HBO’s The Pacific) to replace the ailing Andy Whitfield as the new star of Spartacus: Blood and Sand.

“Since no one can really replace Andy, we realized that we should instead find an actor who can truly lead Spartacus forward,” said Starz CEO Chris Albrecht in a statement. “It was important to us to have Andy endorse the idea of recasting this part, which he did in the same heroic manner that he’s dealt with his whole ordeal. And that, coupled with our fortune in finding a young actor with the gladiator credentials and the acting ability of Liam, makes it easier for us to keep this hit franchise going.”

In the release put out by Starz, the network referred to the “grueling and rigorous audition process” that McIntyre went through to claim the title role — and they’re not exaggerating. According to sources, McIntyre — whose slight build initially led execs to rule him out as Sparty — underwent two-plus months of boot camp to bulk up for the part.

In September, news broke that Whitfield was dropping out of Spartacus‘ second season to undergo treatment for a recurrence of Non-Hodgkin lymphoma. Starz debated whether to end the series or embark on the daunting task of recasting the lead. With Whitfield’s blessing in hand, the network ultimately decided the show must go on.

McIntyre assumes the role at the start of the show’s second season, which begins shooting later this spring.

In the meantime, fans can get their Sparty fix with Spartacus: Gods of the Arena, a six-part prequel debuting this Friday at 10:00 pm (ET) on Starz.

Spartacus Lives!: Starz to Move Forward on a Second Season

Those wondering about the future of Starz’ Spartacus can breathe a big sigh of relief: The network confirmed at the Telebision Critics Association (TCA) press tour that it will continue the breakout hit despite the loss of star Andy Whitfield.

Sources close to the production say season two will start shooting this spring, with an eye toward a 2012 premiere.

Which, of course, raises a big question: Who’s Spartacus?

Though Starz has not yet crowned a new rebellious slave-warrior to lead the series, producers are confident that the rapidly narrowing field of candidates will yield a new star.

Though there’s been plenty of suspense over the fate of the series since Whitfield left the show to resume treatment for cancer, moving forward makes plenty of sense. The first season of Spartacus gained viewers nearly every week last year to become Starz’ first hit title. Though Whitfield was terrific in the lead, he was backed by a strong supporting cast. Plus the show grabbed plenty of viewers by virtue of its unique visual style and aggressive R-rated content.

In other words: There was a lot going for Spartacus aside from just Spartacus.

Starz will get an idea of how the show fares without Whitfield when its prequel, Gods of the Arena, debuts Friday, January 21st.

Producer Rob Tapert spoke on the decision to continue the series without Whitfield and here's what he said: “Nothing good came from losing Andy. We’ve had the luxury of building an infrastructure and having the prequel and sharpening the skills of the actors. If there’s any upside, we’re better prepared to support the new Spartacus when he comes into the role. The season two story no longer takes place in the ludus. It’s a different world and different set of shoes to fill. We feel confident, as does Starz, we will find the right person.”

Starz CEO Chris Albrecht added, “We really struggled with this. From a business point of view, the show is so successful. And the prequel, when we saw it, we saw that the show was continuing to be a creative success. Now we’re at a place where the show is more than the character. We know we can find someone who can step into Spartacus’ sandals.

As for whether the new Spartacus will be a star or another relative unknown like Whitfield, Albrecht says, “It will be fair to say the person will not be a household name, but he will potentially have a pre-existing fanbase.”

We'll have to stay tuned for my details on the second season of Spartacus: Blood and Sand.

'Spartacus: Gods of the Arena' Trailer: Blood, Sex, But No Andy Whitfield

Behold, the new trailer for "Spartacus: Gods of the Arena." (It just feels right to say "Behold" when you're talking about a sword-and-sandal show like this.)

While you won't really see any of Andy Whitfield in the 90-second teaser, you will see a lot of what you've come to expect from "Spartacus" -- lots of action (and accompanying gore), a few hints at steamy sex scenes and intrigue at the house of Batiatus.

Best of all, though is the fact that the prequel, which takes place before Spartacus (Whitfield) arrives at the ludus, found a way to involve John Hannah and Lucy Lawless again. They were often the most interesting parts of "Spartacus: Blood and Sand," and it's great to see more of their characters.

While the full second season of "Spartacus" is still a ways off, "Gods of the Arena" premieres on Starz on January 21st.

Three Actors Vying for 'Spartacus' Lead

The search for the new lead of Starz's flagship drama series "Spartacus: Blood and Sand," is entering its final stage, with the field narrowed down to three actors: Stephen Amell, Aiden Turner (pictured) and Liam McIntyre.

The three are being flown to New Zealand for screen tests and to meet with the show's cast and crew, with a final decision on who would be the next Spartacus expected as early as this week.

The chosen actor will replace original Spartacus star Andy Whitfield who dropped out in September when his cancer returned. He was first diagnosed with treatable Stage 1 non-Hodgkin's lymphoma in early March when the series was in pre-production on Season 2.

Whitfield's cancer recurrence put the second season of Spartacus in limbo, leaving the series' producers with a choice to recast the role or end the series,which put Starz on the original programming map with its highly-rated first season.

Ultimately, they launched a search for a new actor to play the famous gladiator. Like Australian Whitfield was before he landed Spartacus, Canadian Amell (Closing the Ring), Brit Turner (All My Children) and Australian McIntyre (The Pacific) are relatively unknown foreign actors with chiseled looks and impressive physique.

Turner is the most familiar name because of his long run on All My Children and as a contestant on ABC's Dancing with the Stars. The Spartacus prequel, "Spartacus: Gods of the Arena," is slated to launch in January.

Spartacus May 'Close Up Shop' in Wake of Andy Whitfield's Cancer Relapse

Although Starz execs have yet to decide how Andy Whitfield’s cancer relapse will impact the future of Spartacus: Blood and Sand, exec producer Steven S. DeKnight reveals that one of two things will likely happen: a new actor will be brought in to replace Whitfield or the series will end.

“The two main options are to close up shop or recast,” says DeKnight. “I want to talk to Andy and find out how he feels about the options. That’s obviously very important to us.

“We’re still absorbing what’s happened,” adds DeKnight. “I think it’s going to be a little while before we reach any conclusions.”

DeKnight says his primary concern remains Whitfield, who bowed out of the show’s second season after doctors advised him to resume “aggressive treatment” for Non-Hodgkin lymphoma. “He’s a trooper,” marvels DeKnight. “He has a very positive outlook.”

Spartacus: Gods of the Arena, a prequel to the series, will still air as scheduled in January 2011.

Andy Whitfield Bows Out of Spartacus to Resume Cancer Treatment

Spartacus: Blood and Sand star Andy Whitfield will not be returning to the second season of the Starz series, the network announced Friday via press release.

The actor, who was in remission after being diagnosed with Non-Hodgkin lymphoma in March, has been advised to resume “aggressive treatment” for the disease.

“It’s with a deep sense of disappointment that I must step aside from such an exceptional project as Spartacus and all the wonderful people involved,” Whitfield said in the release. “It seems that it is time for myself and my family to embark on another extraordinary journey. Thank you for the support so far.”

The series had delayed production in the spring while Whitfield underwent treatment; the actor had been training for the second season after he was declared cancer-free in June.

At this point, the network has not made any decisions regarding the series’ future. “Right now, we just want to extend our concern and support to Andy and his family,” Starz Media’s Managing Director Carmi Zlotnik said in the statement. “We will address our programming plans at some later date.”

Spartacus: Gods of the Arena, a prequel to the series, will still air as scheduled in January 2011.