Can you hear that? It’s the sound of Bobby Axelrod’s (Damien Lewis) blue-eyed swagger returning to a screen near you very soon. Season 5 of Billions premieres on Sunday, May 3, and I, for one, am very excited to catch up with my second favourite cast of rich white people.
Speaking of casts, there are two major additions to look forward to this season. Julianna Margulies and Corey Stoll are joining the already stacked lineup of power players as brand-new characters to spar with Axe, Chuck Rhoades (Paul Giammati), and Wendy (Maggie Siff).
According to Entertainment Weekly, series creators Brian Koppelman and David Levien have been trying to work with both actors since the series premiered back in 2016, but it never worked out — until now.
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Most of the details about this new season are being kept under wraps, but we do know a few things about the two characters about to join the Axe Capital universe.
Margulies plays Catherine Grant, a sociology professor and author who has something to do with Chuck’s personal growth. And judging by Chuck’s taste for chic attractive brunettes, it’s probably safe to say that there will probably be some sort of romantic arc at play here.
“She’s a conduit for Chuck Rhoades (Paul Giamatti) finding another side of himself,” Margulies told EW. “She comes from a place of non judgment and isn’t deterred by his behaviour, which he finds quite enlightening.”
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Stoll will play Indiana-based businessman Michael Prince, who seems to be Axe’s next antagonist. Stoll strides into the new season’s trailer wearing the shit out of a blue suit, and spends much of the next two minutes smirking at Axe as the two try to out-macho each other. Billions, you’ve been missed!
The question is, what does that mean for Chuck?
Although Axe and Chuck worked together throughout season 4 to bring down rivals and enemies Taylor Mason (Asia Kate Dillon), Grigor Andolov (John Malkovich), Bryan Connerty (Toby Leonard Moore), and Jock Jeffcoat (Clancy Brown), season 5 will likely find them at odds once more.
The Billions season 4 finale ended with Chuck winning his personal vendetta at the expense of his wife’s medical career. Wendy ends up saving her license, but only after Axe steps in to help her. In the last moments of the episode, she leaves Chuck, and crashes in Axe’s gigantic Tribeca penthouse, a hint that the two may be about to start something in the episodes to come. With no more nemeses to take down on the political front, Chuck is turning his sights back on his old frenemy, and Prince might just be the key to his plan.
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Then again, nothing on Billions ever turns out as planned. That’s part of the fun! As long as Wags (David Costabile) and Chuck Sr.’s (Jeffrey DeMunn) eyebrows are along for the ride, I’m in.