Jai Courtney Joins Cast of Netflix's WET HOT AMERICAN SUMMER: TEN YEARS LATER

TV Jai Courtney Wet Hot American Summer: Ten Years Later Netflix about 7 years agoby Ben Pearson

Why, God? Why?

Deadline reports that Jai Courtney — yes, the bland, forgettable actor of A Good Day to Die Hard, Terminator Genisys, and Suicide Squad fame — has been cast in Netflix's upcoming Wet Hot American Summer: Ten Years Later. How can an actor so terrible fit in with a franchise I love so much?

Courtney plays Garth MacArthur, a suave, indie movie darling who is about to become a household name. Garth is recognized wherever he goes, but his eyes aren’t on the fans. He’s mad about Susie (Amy Poehler) and wishes she would agree to take their relationship beyond “friends with benefits.” He joins her on the trip back to Camp Firewood.

I don't buy that Courtney is going to be able to hold a candle to the stellar comedians in this cast, but maybe this will be the property that slowly starts to turn him around for me, like 21 Jump Street was for Channing Tatum.

This all started with David Wain's brilliant indie film Wet Hot American Summer back in 2001, and last year, Wain reunited with his cast for Netflix in a TV series prequel called First Day of Camp. That show is the best example of prequel storytelling I've ever seen, and six months ago, Netflix announced that Wain and the gang are returning for Ten Years Later, which picks up ten years after the events of the movie. (In the film, the characters talk about reuniting ten years in the future, and a quick post-credits scene briefly explores what this would look like, but the series will delve into that in a much deeper way.)

Deadline also reports that Samm Levine, who voiced the Camp Radio host Arty in the film and prequel series, will actually physically appear as the character in this show, and Marlo Thomas will play a character named Vivian, described as "a woman with a mysterious connection to the past history of the camp."

They'll join the previously announced cast of Poehler, Bradley Cooper, Paul Rudd, Elizabeth Banks, Marguerite Moreau, Zak Orth, Michael Ian Black, Janeane Garofalo, Molly Shannon, Lake Bell, Michael Showalter, Christopher Meloni, A.D Milles, Chris Pine, Kristen Wiig, Joe Lo Truglio, Ken Marino, and Josh Charles. The eight-episode season will premiere sometime in 2017.