Everyone who has ever read a book on American history knows the classic story of Benjamin Franklin confronting the traitorous Benedict Arnold. First, Franklin discovered a copy of Leaves Of Grass—a book that wouldn’t be published for about 80 years—in Arnold’s bathroom. It contained a message dedicated to “B.A.” in handwriting that was suspiciously similar to that of King George, which set Ben Franklin on a quest to bring Arnold to justice. And who could forget the time Franklin brought Arnold into his garage and punched him square in the face? Some historians consider that “the coolest thing ever.”
Alright, none of those things actually happened—as far as we know—but we still thought it would be a fun way to introduce that Dean Norris will be playing Founding Father Benjamin Franklin in The History Channel’s upcoming Sons Of Liberty. Those are things he did on Breaking Bad. Remember Breaking Bad? Anyway, this news comes from Variety, which reports that Sons Of Liberty will be a six-part miniseries telling the story of a handful of early Americans who “secretly join forces” to start a revolution against the British.
In addition to Norris as Ben Franklin, the miniseries will also star The Chronicles Of Narnia’s Ben Barnes as Sam Adams, Prometheus’ Rafe Spall as John Hancock, and The Blacklist’s Ryan Eggold as Joseph Warren, the guy who masterminded Paul Revere’s lantern-based warning system. Also, Terriers’ Michael Raymond-James will catch a ride with a trickster and a javelin man to a town down by the sea as Revere himself.
The History Channel says Sons Of Liberty will follow the rebels “from the Boston Tea Party to the Declaration of Independence,” and considering the cast, it seems as if this miniseries is being set up to portray America at its most badass. We just hope it skips the part where Ben Franklin gets trapped in a mysterious dome.