"Spartacus: Vengeance" creator and executive producer Steven S. DeKnight said the new bad guy in the upcoming third season in the Starz series --the fourth overall -- will be very impressive.
British actor Simon Merrells joined the fold recently as Spartacus' soon-to-be-foe Marcus Crassus and DeKnight told Access Hollywood that the actor's performance is powerful.
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"Simon had [a] huge, huge role to fill with Crassus being the main villain, the main force, and I've been so impressed by Simon," DeKnight said at the Starz event in Los Angeles on Thursday evening, honoring 1960 "Spartacus," Kirk Douglas and the continuing impact of the Thracian character.
"When you see [Simon] in Episode 1, he will be one of the most definitive Crassus'" DeKnight added.
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The Brit isn't the only new face on the cast. Australian actor Todd Lassance joined as a young Julius Caesar and the new show members hit the set ready to impress.
"The new guys are fantastic," DeKnight said. "They came in with guns blazing."
Also blazing will be the violence in the show as Spartacus and his men gear up for even more conflict when the show returns early next year.
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"It's war, it's very violent. I saw something in Episode 1 that I watched that I had to replay a couple of times it's so gloriously violent," DeKnight laughed.
-- Jolie Lash
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