Amazon’s hit post-apocalyptic series “Fallout” has expanded its cast for a third season, adding Manny Jacinto, Emily Mortimer, and Thomasin McKenzie as production prepares to resume in Los Angeles this month.
The trio joins previously announced “Breaking Bad” star Aaron Paul for the new season of the series, which is based on the globally popular video game franchise of the same name.
The announcement comes as the show continues to build on its growing international audience, with Seasons 1 and 2 surpassing 100 million viewers worldwide during the first 13 weeks of Season 2.
Out of the bunker
“Fallout” follows survivors in a devastated world two centuries after a nuclear apocalypse.
The story centers on residents of luxury fallout shelters who emerge into a dangerous and irradiated landscape and encounter “an incredibly complex, gleefully weird, and highly violent universe.”
The new cast members will join returning stars Ella Purnell, Aaron Moten, Walton Goggins, Kyle MacLachlan, Moisés Arias, Frances Turner, Annabel O’Hagan, and Dave Register.
While details about the new characters have not yet been disclosed, the additions bring together performers with extensive film and television credentials.
New additions to the wasteland
Jacinto, best known for his role as Jason Mendoza in the comedy “The Good Place”, recently appeared in the Star Wars series “The Acolyte” and Disney’s “Freakier Friday,” and will next lend his voice to DreamWorks Animation’s “Forgotten Island.”
Mortimer (“Paddington in Peru”) is known for creating, writing, directing and starring in “The Pursuit of Love” for BBC and Amazon, while also co-creating and starring in HBO’s “Doll and Em.” She recently co-wrote and appeared in Noah Baumbach’s “Jay Kelly.”
McKenzie broke out with performances in “Last Night in Soho” and “Jojo Rabbit”, and her recent projects include “The Testament of Ann Lee” and “Fackham Hall,” with Paul Greengrass’ “The Uprising” scheduled for release in September.
GAMING NEWS YOU MAY LIKE: Marvel’s “Wolverine” shares exciting new look at upcoming game
From New Vegas to Colorado
Season 2’s finale points to a new location not covered in the main “Fallout” games: Colorado, with The Ghoul (Goggins) heading there to search for his wife and daughter and the new, big bad Enclave’s base being located in the Rocky Mountains.
The new location is a deep cut, considering that it is the location for Interplay and Black Isle Studios’ scrapped third Fallout game, nicknamed “Van Buren.”
The planned sequel would have focused on a man called Doctor Presper, who plans to use an orbital missile system to trigger a nuclear armageddon to cleanse the world.
Doctor Presper’s scheme echoes the original plan of Vault-Tec, which was revealed to be actually orchestrated by the Enclave.
While it was unlikely for Season 3 to exactly follow Van Buren’s original story, it may introduce a new character like Doctor Presper or even follow a similar plot point circling another nuclear apocalypse.
READ NEXT: Daveigh Chase, voice of Lilo in ‘Lilo & Stitch’, dies at 35
Carmela Calling 
James Mario Ajero