I always say that I need to see first look footage before I make any kind of judgement and I’m not one to fire off negativity when something is announced that isn’t exactly fan friendly. Batfleck anyone? I remember when Ben Affleck was announced to portray Bruce Wayne and The Dark Knight in Zack Snyder’s reimagining of the iconic DC heroes, and the fanboy alliance lost their collective shit in a not so good way. There were countless social media posts condemning Affleck’s hiring, but we all know how that worked out in the end. Even if Affleck’s days as Batman are numbered with his performance in The Flash probably being the last time. In other words, hold off judgement because no one can see in the future so why get all huffy puffy when you don’t even know it’ll all turn out.

It’s happening all over again as Karl Urban has been announced as the new Johnny Cage in Mortal Kombat 2 and fans aren’t having it. I will admit…he’s not my first choice. Hell, he’s not even my tenth choice but wait and see how it unfolds. After all, Urban is one of the best genre actors around so who knows and can get physical with attitude, so I’m intrigued about this hiring.

Where am I going with all this? Well Deadline has just given us word that the Has Fallen franchise which stars Gerard Butler is indeed setting a course for television. This was actually teased a few years ago as another sequel was announced called Night Has Fallen and there were rumors of TV spin-offs. The good news is that there is going to be a new entry in the franchise as it hits TV. The bad news…and boy is it bad..is that Gerard Butler will not play his character of Mike Banning in the show. Yeah, that’s a problem. Butler is the face of the franchise and without him involved in front of the cameras kicking ass, well what’s the point.

To further throw salt into this wound, the actor they have chosen to head he series and play a completely different character isn’t, well how should I put this? He doesn’t exactly scream action hero. I’m sure he’s a fine actor in his own right but he’s got big shoes to fill and it’s not looking good.

The Series will be called Paris Has Fallen (neat huh?) and will star Mathieu Kassovitz as “Vincent, a protection officer to a French Minister, who is the target of a terror group led by villain Jacob. Vincent works with MI6 operative Zara to keep the politician safe, but they eventually unravel a wider plot, suspecting that a security service colleague is feeding information to Jacob, who is always a step ahead in his mission to bring down Paris.”

Here’s a photo of the actor below.

here’s gerad Butler as elite Secret Service bad ass Mike Banning from the first film Olympus Has Fallen:

Do you see what I mean here people? The Has Fallen franchise is old school, kick butt action and I’m sorry but I do not get those vibes from Kassovitz. Once again, I have nothing against him but I’m definitely not feeling it. Plus, Mike Banning is one of my favorite action characters and not to see Butler ripping it up again just hurts. I will hold off until I see footage from the show but it’s not looking good in my eyes. There is word that Butler may make a cameo in it and that deals for other cast members are currently being finalized,” but who wants Mike Banning relegated to a one note character in his own franchise. He’ll show up and then go away and it’ll just be a tease. I’ll be sitting there watching it and yelling “Mike come back!” as loud as I can at the screen. Seriously, who thinks some of this stuff is a hood idea?

Anyway, here are more details on the series courtesy of Deadline:

Paris Is Fallen is set up at Canal+ in France; ZDF in Germany; Canal+ International in Poland and Africa; and M7 in Romania, Hungary, Czech Republic, and Slovakia. StudioCanal is preparing to shop the eight-part series to U.S. and UK buyers over the coming months.

Howard Overman, the creator of BAFTA-winning series Misfits, is writing Paris Has Fallen. Oded Ruskin is directing having previously worked on series including Hulu’s No Man’s Land. Shooting will commence on May 30 in London and Paris.

Respected French filmmaker and actor Mathieu Kassovitz will lead the cast of Paris Has Fallen, which will be made by StudioCanal, War of the Worlds producer Urban Myth Films, and two companies behind the film franchise: Millennium Media and Butler’s G-Base.

Well, there you go. No Night has Fallen starring Butler as take no shit Mike banning. Just Paris Has Fallen starring a respected French actor. Get excited everyone.

There is some light at the end of the tunnel hopefully as reports are saying that Night Has Fallen with Gerard Butler reprising his role of Mike Banning is still moving forward so there’s that. The ending of Angel Has Fallen was a good closure for the films as Banning had retired from field service to become director of the Secret Service. It may seem that this series and a potential cameo from Butler could serve as a means to move forward into the movie so we shall see. Fingers crossed as I could watch Butler as Banning wipe up the floor with scum every day and twice on Sundays.

In the meantime, here’s more salt in the wound as I share a clip of Butler as Mike Banning eradicating bad guys with extreme prejudice in one of my favorite scenes from the franchise. You’re welcome world.