A wide range of Hollywood celebrities and up-and-coming talent, some of whom have firsthand experience with superhero franchises, appear in HBO’s original satirical comedy The Franchise, which follows a superhero franchise movie’s chaos behind the scenes.
The show is set to target the alleged discordance that afflicts interconnected universes such as the DC Extended Universe and the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Sam Mendes, a former director of the long-running James Bond film series, is one of the series’ executive producers. He directs his first television episode.
Reviews for The Franchise have been generally positive thus far, which may be explained by the fact that many members of the series’ cast benefit from their extensive firsthand experience in franchise filmmaking.
Even though the show has only been approved for one season thus far, given some of the superhero actors and actresses in the cast, there should be a built-in audience of superhero movie fans who watch the comedy series. The quality of the ensemble cast will surely steal the show, as they use quickfire jokes to bounce off one another.
Here’s who’s who in The Franchise:
Himesh Patel as Daniel
Born in 1990 in Cambridgeshire, England, Himesh Patel made his breakthrough performance in the 2019 film Yesterday, where he played a failed musician who awakens to find that he is the only person who remembers The Beatles, whose songs he claims to have written.
As demonstrated by his selection for the lead in The Franchise, Patel is a rising star in Hollywood, having starred in several high-profile films, such as Tenet, Don’t Look Up, and Enola Holmes 2.
The character of Himesh Patel Daniel is the First AD in the superhero movie Tecto, which is the show’s focal point. Even though he isn’t the main director, Daniel keeps the film going and the outrageous actors in line and focused. Even though The Franchise features a large ensemble cast, Daniel is the closest character to the show’s protagonist.
Aya Cash as Anita
Born in 1982 in San Francisco, California, Aya Cash became well-known for her portrayal of Gretchen Cutler in the dark comedy You’re the Worst on FXX. Since then, Cash has mostly worked in television.
She recently became well-known for playing the villainous Nazi supervillain Stormfront in the critically acclaimed superhero satire The Boys on Amazon Prime. In the forthcoming prequel to The Boys, Vought Rising, Cash will play Stormfront (or “Liberty”) once more in a leading role.
As Tecto’s main producer, Anita (Aya Cash) mediates the film’s production team and the studio. Despite the constant pressure from both sides, she does her best to fulfill her role.
Billy Magnussen as Adam
Born 1985 in New York City, Billy Magnussen made his stage debut as Rapunzel’s attractive prince in the 2014 musical Into the Woods. The James Bond movie No Time To Die, the Disney film Aladdin, and the Sopranos prequel The Many Saints of Newark are just a few of Magnussen’s numerous roles throughout his career.
The quirky and erratic star of Tecto, played by Billy Magnussen, is one of the most difficult characters for Himesh Patel’s First AD Daniel to deal with during the film’s production.
Jessica Hynes as Steph
Born in 1972 in London, England, Jessica Hynes is a well-known and acclaimed British comedy actress with a background in stage plays, television, and movies. Her big break came in 1999 when she co-starred and co-wrote the British sitcom Spaced with Simon Pegg, with whom she has previously worked.
Since then, she has received numerous accolades for her comedic roles on British television and has even starred in a few high-profile feature films, such as Paddington 2 and Bridget Jones’ Baby.
Steph, played by Jessica Hynes, is Tecto’s script supervisor and collaborates closely with Eric, the film’s director. Steph’s life is complicated by Eric’s eccentric and occasionally tone-deaf personality and the numerous changes throughout the film’s production.
Daniel Brühl as Eric
Born in 1978 in Barcelona, Spain, Daniel Brühl is now one of the most well-known figures in the larger global film industry. As the main antagonist, Helmut Zemo, he was first introduced to the North American audience in Quentin Tarantino’s Inglourious Basterds.
He was also introduced to the world of superhero franchises in Captain America: Civil War. Brühl produced and starred in All Quiet on the Western Front, which won an Academy Award in 2022.
Eric, Brühl’s unpredictable director, occasionally jeopardizes the film’s advancement and the studio’s standing due to his ignorance of diversity and equality. He is responsible for many of the film’s errors and serves as Patel’s Daniel’s unintentional antagonist.
Richard E. Grant as Peter
Born in 1957 in what is now Eswatini (formerly Swaziland), Richard E. Grant has developed into a legendary character actor throughout his career. He got his big break in the iconic British dark comedy Withnail and I in 1987, and he used that to launch a lucrative career over the following three to five decades as a supporting actor in several high-profile films.
Fans of superhero franchises will recognize him as the antagonist Zander Rice in the popular X-Men film Logan and as “Classic Loki” from the critically acclaimed Disney+ series Loki.
Grant portrays Peter, a legendary actor who reluctantly stars in Tecto because he feels that his professional achievements should make him more important than making such unimportant films.
The Franchise’s Supporting Cast and Characters
Dag, played by Lolly Adefope, is the second AD in the superhero movie Tecto, which is the focal point of The Franchise. She usually manages to keep her composure while everyone else melts under her.
Pat, played by Darren Goldstein, is a high-ranking studio executive tasked with overseeing the production and defending the studio’s interests on the set. Still, he is not high enough to avoid the grunt work.
Bryson, played by Isaac Cole Powell, is essentially Shane, the head of the studio that created Tecto, his eyes and ears. He expresses his desires on the set and always has an earpiece for direct communication with Shane.
About The Franchise
The Franchise is an 2024 satirical comedy television series created by Jon Brown, and executive produced by Brown, Armando Iannucci and Sam Mendes. The series premiered on October 6, 2024, on HBO. Depicts a “behind the scenes” look at a film thats part of a larger superhero film franchise. The series follows the 1st AD, Daniel as he deals with the day to day problems working on Tecto: Eye of the Storm, which is a minor film in the franchise compared to the higher priority “team-up” film, Centurios 2.
It was announced in August 2022 that HBO had greenlit a pilot for the series from Armando Iannucci, who would write the pilot alongside Keith Akushie and Jon Brown, with Sam Mendes set to direct, who also conceived of the idea of the series. In August 2023, it was ordered to series.
In December 2022, Billy Magnussen, Jessica Hynes, Darren Goldstein, Lolly Adefope and Isaac Cole Powell were cast in main roles, with Richard E. Grant and Daniel Brühl set to recur.In August 2023, Himesh Patel and Aya Cash were cast as series regulars.
Production on the pilot was completed before July 14, 2023, with filming suspended until the conclusion of the 2023 SAG-AFTRA strike. Filming for the first season commenced on February 26, 2024, with a planned three month production.
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