Charlie Hunnam is heading back into the world of Sons of Anarchy, although not in the way anyone would have guessed when the FX drama ended more than a decade ago.
The new limited series Legends will reunite Hunnam with several familiar faces from the original show, including Ron Perlman, Katey Sagal, Maggie Siff, Mark Boone Junior, Tommy Flanagan, Kim Coates and Theo Rossi. There is one pretty big catch, though. They aren’t returning as Jax Teller, Clay Morrow, Gemma Teller Morrow or the other characters fans remember. They’re playing versions of themselves.
Hunnam explained the unusual idea in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter and made sure nobody confused this with a traditional revival. In his words, it is “definitely not Season 8 of Sons of Anarchy.” And considering how Sons of Anarchy ended, that’s probably an important thing to establish. Jax’s story had an ending. So did the stories of quite a few other major characters. Trying to manufacture another season around all of that would require some serious explaining. Legends doesn’t have that problem.
Charlie Hunnam simply missed his old cast
The beginnings of the project were surprisingly personal, and Charlie Hunnam explains that the idea grew out of how much he missed working with his former co-stars. Hunnam said he kept having dreams about being back with the cast. After it happened several times, he started thinking there might be something behind it. As Charlie Hunnam reveals, he missed that group and wanted another opportunity to work with them. Eventually, that feeling became Legends.
The new show will bring the Sons of Anarchy cast together at a fan convention years after their FX series ended. It should be a nostalgic reunion. Naturally, things don’t stay that easy. As Charlie Hunnam discusses the new series, the actors find themselves dealing with an actual threat. That allows Legends to have some fun with the difference between the dangerous lives they portrayed on television and what happens when danger suddenly becomes real. It’s certainly not the reunion most fans would have predicted. Then again, that may be why it works.
Sons of Anarchy never really disappeared
Sons of Anarchy premiered in 2008 and spent seven seasons following SAMCRO, but motorcycles, guns and crime were only part of what made the show so addictive. People cared about these characters. Friendships fell apart. Families turned on one another. Loyalty could save someone in one episode and destroy them a few episodes later. At the center of everything was Jax, trying to figure out whether the club he loved was something worth saving or something he needed to escape.
That gave the show much more to work with than another weekly crime story, and it helps explain why the series still has such a loyal following. As Charlie Hunnam explains the new reunion, it is easy to see why bringing this cast back together carries so much weight. Longtime fans continue to revisit Charming, while new viewers are still discovering the series years after its finale.
Charlie Hunnam reveals that Legends will take a very different approach, but simply seeing so many familiar faces together again brings plenty of nostalgia before the new series tells a single story. As Hunnam discusses the project, one thing is clear: the connection fans have with Sons of Anarchy never really went away.
FX has not yet announced a premiere date for Legends. If all this has you wanting to revisit Sons of Anarchy, or watch it for the first time, all seven seasons are currently streaming on Hulu.
You May Also Like:
