"Xena: Warrior Princess" star
Lucy Lawless is set to return to the
"Spartacus" universe in an upcoming Starz miniseries titled
"Spartacus: House of Ashur". The show is an alternate take on the original show and asks the question: what if Ashur (
Nick Tarabay) hadn't died on Mount Vesuvius at the end of
"Spartacus: Vengeance" and instead was gifted Batiatus's Ludus in return for helping to kill Spartacus and end the slave rebellion ?
The new series has been described by Starz as a
"history-bending, erotic, thrilling, roller-coaster experience that builds on everything that made the original series a colossal hit." Lawless will return in a guest-starring role in the premiere episode, and her appearance will be instrumental in setting up the "what if" alternate timeline. In addition to Tarabay, the series will also star
Graham McTavish, Tenika Davis, Jamaica Vaughan, Ivana Baquero, Jordi Webber, Claudia Black, India Shaw-Smith and
Leigh Gill.
"Spartacus" creator, writer and executive producer
Steven S. DeKnight will serve as showrunner and executive producer on
"Spartacus: House of Asher".
Lawless recently made her directorial debut with the documentary
"Never Look Away", which premiered at Sundance 2024 (an official selection in the World Cinema Documentary Competition) and was a SXSW 2024 official selection. She can currently be seen as the lead of the Australian/New Zealand series
"My Life is Murder".