The Spartacus franchise has always been a saga of fighters, survivors, and the people who refuse to stay dead, and no one embodies that spirit more than Ashur (Nick E. Tarabay). Fifteen years after the original series’ premiere, creator Steven S. DeKnight is returning to the sands of the arena with Spartacus: House of Ashur, a new chapter that dives into the life of the show’s most infamously slippery schemer. The result isn’t just a revival. It’s a reimagining, one that promises more intrigue, more betrayal, and more of the gladiatorial emotion fans have been craving.Ahead of the premiere, airing Friday, Dec. 5 on STARZ, DeKnight spoke exclusively with Parade about resurrecting Ashur, why now felt like the right time to introduce the show's first-ever female gladiator (a gladiatrix), and how he crafts the franchise’s famously poetic profanity.
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Do you have a personal top five favorite characters from the Spartacus universe?Oh my God, that's asking me to pick my favorite children. So many of them: Lucretia, Batiatus, Gannicus, Spartacus himself, Crixus, of course Ashur. The list goes on and on and on.
Is there one of them in particular that you enjoyed writing for the most?Well, in the original series, I’ve got to say writing for John Hannah as Batiatus. He was kind of my alter ego, and just the way he curses was my personal favorite. John did such an amazing job with the dialogue.
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Thank you for making a natural segue to my next question. Your dialogue is famous for being poetically profane. I call it "lyrical eloquence."I love it.
Is that something that you craft meticulously, or does it just flow naturally at this point?A little of both. It does flow naturally, although there are many times in the writer's room we'll spend 20 minutes on one sentence, "What about this word? What about that word?" I always say it's like a mashup between Shakespeare and Conan the Barbarian. We also often say that in the show it's "Sparta-speak," which means nobody ever says what they mean. There's a lot of talking around the subject, which is often a little tricky to try to make clear to the audience, but still obscure enough for the scene.
Steven S. DeKnightBrett Erickson)
What made Ashur the character you wanted to resurrect and build a new series around?Well, first and foremost, the amazing Nick E. Tarabay. He's phenomenal. I loved writing for him in the original show, and I love the idea of taking this character who's done horrible things and giving him a second chance, and can he be a better person while fighting against the constraints and pressures of society. In the original show, in Gods of the Arena, when you're first introduced to the backstory of Ashur, you see all he wanted was acceptance and love. And I always say if the guy had gotten a hug back then, he would've been a better person. But he didn't. He got scorned and humiliated, and it turned him dark and bitter. And now that he has everything he ever dreamed of, can he be that better person, or will his own nature drag him down along with the pressures of society?
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Achillia's gladiatrix storyline feels both classic Spartacus and something totally new. What excited you about introducing her character?Oh, everything. In the original show, Rob Tapert and I often talked about bringing in the gladiatrix, but historically, they didn't show up until about 80 years later, and we wanted to stay as close to history as we could. And that's one of the main things that excited me about this what-if premise. By Ashur now being alive, he's changing the course of history, and that first domino is introducing the gladiatrix 80 years early because his back's up against the wall and he's got to have a gimmick, so he just says, "What if we threw a woman in the arena?" never expecting it to really take off.
Lucy Lawless returning as Lucretia is going to be a thrill for fans. Was bringing her back always part of your plan? And could more legacy cast members appear in future episodes?Bringing Lucy back was critical to getting this show off to the right start, because the way we start it and explain how Ashur is alive in this what-if universe, you really needed Lucy. She was so intricately tied to Ashur in that final season in Vengeance, and she's the reason that he ultimately got killed. So it just made total sense for her to be the engine that kicks it off.As for other people popping up, I always tell all the fans that ask, "Well, Ashur's alive. Maybe Gannicus could still be alive," I have to tell them, "No, everybody else is still dead." I'm not touching what happened in that respect or undoing the deaths that were earned in the original show, just with Ashur. Could you see them in a flashback or a dream? Possibly, if it makes sense for the story. But in the reality of the world, those who died remain deceased.
Related: 'Spartacus' Spinoff 'House of Ashur' Introduces Female Gladiator for New Sequel Series
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