City Primeval Producers Were Wary Of Trying To Replace Boyd

One of the biggest questions surrounding "Justified: City Primeval" is: Why now? Raylan Givens had a prolific run on the original series with a neatly concluded ending. But producers have an answer for the decision to bring back the character. With the culture change surrounding law enforcement, throwing Raylan into a new world was the perfect opportunity to tell a different story. And bring in an entirely new cast as well as a new villain. 

The new series is adapted from the Elmore Leonard crime novel of the same name, where Clement Mansell, AKA the Oklahoma Wildman, played by Boyd Holbrook, is the main antagonist. Michael Dinner explained to Entertainment Weekly that Mansell will serve quite a different function than Boyd Crowder. Instead of the mutual respect and similar experiences shared between Boyd and Raylan, Mansell will be more of a wild card.

"With this guy, Clement Mansell, he's so unpredictable, and at a time when Raylan himself is seven, eight years older, so it's not only who he is physically, but also because he's so unpredictable," Dinner explained, going on to say: "Boyd Crowder had kind of an amoral code, but he still had a code. I'm not sure that Clement Mansell, the bad guy in this, does at all." When "Justified: City Primeval" premieres, viewers expecting the same old, same old will have a surprise waiting for them.