Antonio Banderas has joined Nicolas Cage as a lead in the fifth season of HBO's True Detective, Variety reported. Production is expected to begin in 2027; the announcement does not provide a premiere date or describe a completed season.
Banderas will play Rai Garcia, while Cage takes the role of Henry Logan. Few further character details have been disclosed, leaving their backgrounds and relationships unspecified in the report.
A new setting
The next instalment takes place in Jamaica Bay, New York, moving away from the Alaska setting of season four, Night Country, which starred Jodie Foster and Kali Reis.
Issa Lopez returns as showrunner, writer, director and executive producer after leading Night Country. The anthology therefore retains its creative lead while shifting to a different setting and cast.
Variety also named Daniel Zelman, Mari Jo Winkler, Kathleen McCaffrey and both stars among the executive producers, alongside figures associated with the franchise such as Nic Pizzolatto and Cary Joji Fukunaga.
Lead actors' background
Banderas's credits include The Mask of Zorro, The Legend of Zorro, Babygirl and the voice of Puss in Boots in the Shrek franchise. Cage is known for Leaving Las Vegas, National Treasure, Pig and Dream Scenario.
The report described True Detective as Cage's second leading television role, following Spider-Noir. Citing HBO, it put Night Country's cross-platform audience at 12.7 million, the franchise's largest season audience at that point. That figure concerns season four, rather than the forthcoming fifth season. The current development is Banderas's casting and the planned 2027 production start.