Kirby Howell-Baptiste is heading to Neptune. The Killing Eve actress has joined the cast of Hulu’s revival of Veronica Mars in what Deadline is calling a recurring role.
Kristen Bell returns as the former teen sleuth who gets drawn into a mystery involving murdered spring breakers in her home town of Neptune, California. Howell-Baptiste will be playing Nichole, the owner and operator of a Neptune nightclub where Veronica is led to believe that the murderer finds his victims.
And yes, the plot does sound similar to the The Thousand Dollar Tan line, the first of two Veronica Mars tie-in novels co-written by Jennifer Graham and series creator Rob Thomas and released in the wake of the 2014 film. Thomas has stated that the Hulu revival is not an adaptation of the book, and there are a few differences between the two that we can already see. The first is that the revival series will have their spring breakers being murdered where the novel centered on two young women who were kidnapped while on spring break in Neptune. Another change from the book is that Neptune’s corrupt Sheriff Lamb has been replaced with a new chief of law enforcement, Marcia Langdon, played by newcomer to the franchise Dawnn Lewis.
In addition to Bell, series regulars Enrico Colantoni (Keith Mars), Jason Dohring (Logan Eccles), Percy Daggs III (Wallace Fennel), Francis Capra (Weevil) and David Starzyk (Dick Casablancas) are all returning for the revival. No word yet if Tina Majorino, who plays Veronica’s computer nerd bestie Mac, is slated to return.
The eight episode series is set to premier on Hulu sometime next year.
