5 things we need to see from Penny Dreadful: City of Angels

Penny Dreadful: City of Angels has officially begun production, and we’ve started thinking about all the things we hope to see in the upcoming spin-off.

If you’ve been reading our site regularly then you know production is underway on the upcoming Penny Dreadful spin-off, Penny Dreadful: City of Angels. The series will be set in 1938 Los Angeles and center on a conflict between worshippers of Santa Muerte and the Devil.

Additionally, the series will focus on a colorful cast of characters from Natalie Dormer to Nathan Lane with plenty of supernatural beings thrown into the mix! It sounds like the new series is going to be plenty of fun, but in order for it to live up to its parent series, there are certain elements we need to see in Penny Dreadful: City of Angels.

5. The new series shouldn’t try to replace Vanessa Ives.

Eva Green was the star of Penny Dreadful. It’s a travesty she didn’t receive proper awards attention for her stellar acting as the eternally haunted Vanessa Ives. Unfortunately, the series didn’t do her justice in its final season, but she was still a force to be reckoned with and unarguably the heart of the show.

It would be a mistake for Penny Dreadful: City of Angels to try and replicate their success with Vanessa Ives by essentially writing a carbon copy of her into the spin-off.

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Instead, they should focus more on crafting an ensemble that best complements the new story. If a darkhorse character breaks out and takes the lead then I’m all for that. But I’d hate to see Vanessa’s legacy tarnished by a character who pales in comparison!

4. It would be nice if City of Angels included easter eggs and shoutouts for fans of the original series.

Going off the previous point, just because I don’t want to see anything directly copied doesn’t mean I wouldn’t appreciate some references and shoutouts to the parent series.

I’m sure many fans would be happy to catch subtle in-jokes and references to things that occurred in the original three seasons. It’s a great way to remind fans they know where the show stems from and have no intention of forgetting its legacy.

3. The villains should be just as epic (if not more so) as the villains in the original series.

The witch storyline in season two is one of my favorite horror depiction of witches ever. Dracula was hit or miss, but if City of Angels can create a villain as compelling as Evelyn Poole, that would be fantastic.

One of Penny Dreadful’s biggest strengths was in its ability to create morally complex and complicated characters. At times, it was hard to tell who the villains were. I hope that continues into the new series. I love moral ambiguity, especially in horror, as its realistic to how people are in everyday life.

2. City of Angels should draw heavily from the real source material of its myths and lore.

It’s impossible to watch Penny Dreadful without catching on to various references from popular literature. You’ve got Frankenstein’s monster, Jekyll and Hyde, Dorian Gray, and more. City of Angels isn’t going to draw from the same lexicon of characters obviously given its historical basis is stemming from a different time.

That said, I would hope the series will base many of its mysteries, creatures, and myths from the real legacy they stem from. Luckily, going off of the information we’ve received about the series so far, it seems like that is going to be the case.

1. We hope this series is as a beautifully-crafted in terms of production as Penny Dreadful.

One of the most appealing parts of Penny Dreadful, for me anyway, was the production value. The show was simply stunning to look at. Showtime did a beautiful job of bringing the gothic horror of the Victorian era to life.

I am hoping we can anticipate more of this in the upcoming spin-off. The series had a knack for looking cinematic, even in its most ludicrous moments.

Do you agree with our list? What do you want to see in City of Angels? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!

Penny Dreadful: City of Angels has officially begun production, it will likely air sometime in 2020.