Penn Badgley sets TV return in new series perfect for You fans

After starring as serial killer Joe Goldberg in Netflix's You, Penn Badgley is returning to the world of murder on TV in a whole new way.

Reported by Deadline, Amazon MGM has ordered a new murder mystery series, based on the novel Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone by Benjamin Stevenson. And who is going to be the star? Our very own Penn Badgley.

While he’s not coming back to Netflix, the actor who first gained notoriety for his role in Gossip Girl and rose to even greater fame with the addictive series You will be taking his talents to another platform. 

The book was a bestseller and takes place in the mountains of Vermont. There, a young man named Erm Cunningham (played by Badgley), a mystery writer, attends a family reunion to welcome his brother home from prison—the same brother Ern also helped convict. But despite the drama that surrounds him, a frozen body is suddenly found amidst the snowstorm that traps everyone in the house, and more people begin to drop like flies. And now, it’s up to Ern to figure out who is doing the killing — since everyone has already done so in this family.

I mean, come on. This sounds right up Badgley’s alley. This also isn't Badgley’s first time with Prime Video; he recently wrapped a new film with the platform, You Deserve Each Other, so the partnership has clearly been going well.

The series will be executive produced and showrun by David Hemingson, best known for writing the Academy Award-nominated screenplay for The Holdovers. For something like a murder mystery, I have high hopes.

The author of the bestselling novel released a statement regarding the adaptation, commenting on how excited he was for it to come to life and how perfect Badgley was to play the role of Ern:

“I am blown away by the vision and enthusiasm everyone has for bringing this book, and Ernest Cunningham, to the screen. Penn perfectly captures Ern’s clueyness and cleverness, and David has brought bags of wit and heart to the script. With the passion of Amazon MGM Studios, Bruna and Steve behind us we have an absolutely killer team, and I can’t wait to solve a murder with them!”

This isn’t Badgley’s first time around the block for a book adaptation, either. While You had plenty of original content later on, the series was based on the novel of the same name by Caroline Kepnes. And while in that he’s a full-on serial killer, it seems this time he’ll be solving the killings rather than committing them — or will he? Dun dun dun.

Badgley's other most famous TV role, Dan Humphrey in Gossip Girl, was also based on the series of novels of the same name by Cecily von Ziegesar. It seems that he can’t get away from the world of novels.

This Prime Video series seems perfect for You fans

While I doubt that this book adaptation will be as romantically focused as You was, there are plenty of reasons to check this out if you’re a fan of Badgley’s previous series. One is obviously that Badgley will have the lead role — and he knows how to play these types of characters well.

The second is that this is really unlike any other murder mystery out there. While there’s still plenty of mystery to be solved, we are told very clearly that the title is not a lie. Literally, every single person in this family has killed someone, including Ern. This makes it a unique story where the protagonist really isn’t painted as an innocent bystander. It’s a full-on murder party.

Third, this is part of a series. While the order starts with the first book, the series includes four other books, each with its own story and secrets.

So who knows? If you happen to love murder mysteries, then this is the show for you. Maybe it’ll get totally insane by the end of it, just like what happened in You. 

It feels like it’s been ages since You ended, even though it's really only been about a year, but it will be so fun to see Badgley in another show. Hopefully, this time, he will be solving the murders and maybe helping out a little, but who knows?

You can watch all five seasons of You on Netflix. 

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