8 Characters Who Should Return for the ‘Leverage’ Revival
Our favorite bad guys are returning to provide some more Leverage in an IMDb TV revival, and hopefully they’re not alone.
While our favorite grifter (Gina Bellman’s Sophie Deveraux), hitter (Christian Kane‘s Eliot Spencer), thief (Beth Riesgraf’s Parker), and hacker (Aldis Hodge‘s Alec Hardison) are all back, there are other familiar faces we’d like to see again as well. (Timothy Hutton‘s mastermind Nate Ford is not returning, but the crew has a new member, Noah Wyle‘s corporate lawyer Harry Sullivan.) Over the five seasons of the original series on TNT (airing from 2008 to 2012), the crew took down marks, helped clients, and got some blasts from the past along the way.
Whether it’s a thorn in their side (like Mark Sheppard‘s James Sterling), a former (temporary) teammate (like Jeri Ryan‘s Tara Cole), or someone that had to be lied to along the way (like Gerald Downey’s naïve Special Agent McSweeten), there are quite a few characters who should (and could) pop up again. Scroll down for some of our picks.
Leverage, TBA, IMDb TV
James Sterling (Mark Sheppard)
The former insurance investigator (and coworker of Nate’s) was working for Interpol last we saw him, but by then, he was also best described as a frenemy (whom Eliot would gladly beat up, especially after he drugged the hitter on a job) and someone who respected what the crew could do and was even willing to help Nate escape prison. While it would be fun to see Eliot or Sophie partnered up with him for a job again — that was so entertaining in “The Queen’s Gambit Job” and “The Frame-Up Job” — anything with Sterling is welcome.
Tara Cole (Jeri Ryan)
Tara filled in as the team’s grifter when Sophie took some time away in Season 2, and she ended up working with her friend and Parker in Season 4’s “The Girls’ Night Out Job.” While there really is no need for two grifters full-time on a crew, we would like to see her working with them for a job or two, especially since she’s no longer new to the others as she was the first time around.
Maggie Collins (Kari Matchett)
We may not be seeing Nate again, but there’s no reason his ex-wife can’t show up. After all, she’s worked with the crew before, is friends with Sophie, and can even grift a bit (as we saw in “The Last Dam Job”). We’ve seen the crew come to her aid and vice versa, so we’re not picky how she returns. But getting more scenes with her and Sophie or her and Parker would certainly be fun.
Jack Hurley (Drew Powell)
Hurley first got on the crew’s radar as a potential mark, and they’d later help him when he got mixed up with mobsters and drugs. A bit too trusting, it’s very easy to imagine him needing their help once again.
Special Agent Todd McSweeten (Gerald Downey)
Parker and Hardison met McSweeten and his partner, Taggert (Rick Overton), while posing as FBI agents. They ran into McSweeten a few more times over the years, and he never learned the truth. We’re not quite sure if we’d like that to change, but we would like to see him pop up again, with or without Taggert.
Colin "Chaos" Mason (Wil Wheaton)
The crew (especially Hardison) reluctantly recruited the hacker in “The Last Dam Job” to take down their marks, but no one would ever call them friends. (After all, he did try to kill Sophie.) Let’s see them on opposite sides once again, during one of the episodes Hardison’s around, of course, since Hodge is only recurring.
Damien Moreau (Goran Visnjic)
Last we saw the criminal, he was locked up in San Lorenzo, after the team successfully took him down. If the revival is going to revisit one of the crew’s marks from the past, why not have it be Damien (assuming he’s still alive)? Not only would it be great to see Visnjic back, but it could also offer the chance to explore more about Eliot’s past given his time working for him.
Peggy Milbank (Lisa Schurga)
Parker became friends with Peggy after meeting her while serving jury duty under one of her aliases. (Yes, Hardison’s work was that good.) The two became friends, and Peggy remained in the dark about her friend’s true identity. In fact, last we saw Peggy, she thought Parker was a spy. Maybe it’s time for her to learn the truth … when she needs the crew’s help.
