The late science fiction author Octavia E. Butler, the groundbreaking Black, lesbian Hugo Award winner and MacArthur Fellow, is about to become part of the lineup on FX. Butler’s 1979 novel, “Kindred,” has been ordered to series by the network.
Adapted and written by Branden Jacobs-Jenkins (“Watchmen”), the eight-episode arc will follow a young Black woman and aspiring writer (played by newcomer Mallori Johnson) who discovers secrets about her family’s past when she time travels between the present and a 19th century plantation. It’s there she learns the truth about where she came from and who her family is. The cast includes Micah Stock (“The Right Stuff”), Gayle Rankin (“GLOW”), Austin Smith (“Random Acts of Flyness”), Antoinette Crowe-Legacy (“Godfather of Harlem”) and Ryan Kwanten (“The Oath”).
Butler’s body of work is extensive, so the well is deep here, and if this series hits with audiences, there’s so much more to be explored on screen.
