Damon Lindelof’s Peacock sci-fi project ‘Mrs. Davis’ casts 'Limitless' alum Jake McDorman to star

It looks like things are starting to pick up faster for Mrs. Davis, Damon Lindelof’s upcoming Peacock project falling on the heels of his Emmy-winning Watchmen. After casting Betty Gilpin in March as a nun who pits her faith against the cold rationale of artificial intelligence, the upcoming sci-fi series has just landed its second star.

Dopesick alum Jake McDorman has just been snagged to play Gilpin’s “rebellious” ex-love interest, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Apparently, that puts him on her side, as McDorman’s yet-unnamed character “also has a personal vendetta against the Algorithm,” suggesting that whatever their past together might have been, Gilpin’s nun and her old flame at least can unite in the face of a common techno-adversary.

Billed by Peacock as “an exploration of faith versus technology — an epic battle of biblical and binary proportions,” Mrs. Davis marks Lindelof’s first new project since scoring 11 statues with Watchmen at the 2020 Emmy Awards (including wins for Outstanding Limited Series, Writing, and a pair of Best Acting awards for stars Regina King and Yahya Abdul-Mateen II). Mrs. Davis’ nun-versus-technology story is being penned by Lindelof himself alongside The Big Bang Theory veteran Tara Hernandez, with both also serving as executive producers. Hernandez also will serve as showrunner, with Owen Harris — who directed the Emmy-winning “San Junipero” episode of Black Mirror — directing multiple episodes including the pilot.

In addition to his series regular role on Dopesick, McDorman has also suited up as astronaut Alan Shepard in historical drama series The Right Stuff at Disney+, recurs as the ghostly Jeff Suckler on What We Do in the Shadows, and even showed up in Watchmen for one episode as Captain Metropolis. He’s also set to appear alongside Bryan Cranston and Annette Bening in the upcoming movie comedy Jerry and Marge Go Large. Beyond his shared relationship background with Gilpin’s character, his plot role in Mrs. Davis is being kept under wraps for now.

It’s safe to say that Peacock has a ton of faith in Mrs. Davis’ potential to be a breakout binge hit, citing Lindelof’s storytelling magic from Lost to Watchmen as the winning ingredient that led the streamer to snag the coveted project in a hotly contested bidding war last year. The new show, said NBCUniversal Television and Streaming chair Susan Rovner, marks “what I believe will be the next must binge series for Peacock! From Lost, to The Leftovers, to Watchmen, Damon’s work is synonymous with content and storytelling that doesn’t just break through the clutter, but also storms onto the scene and demands that you watch or risk being left out.”

No premiere date has been announced for Mrs. Davis, so we’ll keep the vigil (if our AI overlords will let us, that is) until Peacock manifests more news. In the meantime, there's plenty of other binge-worthy sci-fi titles now streaming over at Peacock.