Major Game of Thrones spoiler alert! Don’t say I didn’t warn you.
Though his Game of Thrones character, Oberyn “The Viper” Martell, may have met with a rather devastating end during his battle with Ser Gregor “The Mountain” Clegane on Sunday’s episode, don’t worry about actor Pedro Pascal. He’s just locked down his next TV gig – Pascal will take on a lead role opposite Wagner Moura in Netflix’s Pablo Escobar drama Narcos.
The series, from Jose Padilha, the director of this year’s surprisingly good RoboCop reboot, focuses on Columbian drug kingpin Pablo Escobar (Morou) and Javier Pena (Pascal), the Mexican DEA agent tasked with hunting, capturing and ultimately killing him. Chris Brancato, who previously penned episodes of NBC’s Hannibal, wrote the screenplay.
Narcos is described as “the true-life story of the growth and spread of cocaine drug cartels across the globe and attendant efforts of law enforcement to meet them head on in brutal, bloody conflict.” It’s set to begin rolling cameras on location in Colombia soon.
Pascal was a great addition to Game of Thrones this season, quickly becoming a fan favorite with his take on Oberyn. Though the character’s arc on the show is definitely (and devastatingly, as is the way with HBO’s fantasy hit) over, it’s great to see that the actor’s work on the show has landed him another high-profile role.
As for Narcos as a whole, it’s just the latest venture for the streaming giant, which has been making an effort to expand its original programming library. Its series House of Cards and Orange is the New Black (season two of which landed on Netflix today) have been major hits, and Narcos is the type of ambitious show we could also easily see earning boatloads of praise.
Produced by Gaumont and executive produced by Padilha and Eric Newman, Narcos will premiere on Netflix in 2015