WIRE Buzz: Whedon's The Nevers casts Laura Donnelly; Brave New World adds Thrones alum; more

Joss Whedon's The Nevers has cast its lead role, with Outlander's Laura Donnelly set to star in the upcoming HBO series. The Victorian-set sci-fi drama follows a group of women who all discover they possess extraordinary powers, and band together to embark on a world-saving mission.

According to Variety, Donnelly will play Amalia True a recklessly impulsive and emotionally damaged superhero with a penchant for justice (and drinking). 

"Laura Donnelly has charisma, wisdom and an anarchic precision that not only captures Amalia but defines her," Whedon said. "She’s fierce and she’s funny – and I need both for the journey ahead."

The Nevers was given a straight-to-series order back in July. There's no word on a premiere date just yet, but HBO is about to have a Game of Thrones-sized hole in its schedule, so probably as soon as possible. 

Donnelly can next be seen in the upcoming biopic Tolkien, which was recently disowned by the estate of J.R.R. Tolkien.

Speaking of Game of Thrones, series alum Harry Lloyd is headed to a Brave New World. Lloyd will star opposite Alden Ehrenreich in the small-screen adaptation of Aldous Huxley's groundbreaking novel. 

Deadline reports the actor will play Bernard Marx, a New London resident who's nearly killed during his vacation to the Savage Lands. After he's saved by Ehrenreich's John the Savage, Marx brings him back to New London, where he threatens to upend the rigorous social order keeping their utopia in place. 

More recently, Lloyd played Peter Quayle on the Starz espionage series Counterpart. He'll also be stepping into the role of one Professor Charles Xavier (better known as Professor X) in the third and final season of the X-Men spinoff series Legion. 

Credit: Starz

Brave New World was originally in development at SYFY, then was given a straight-to-series order at the USA Network. Now there's talk of it possibly becoming the flagship series for NBC/Universal's upcoming streaming service. (NBC Universal and its parent company, Comcast, own SYFY WIRE.)

Finally, a Britney Spears-inspired musical continues to move forward. Sony has acquired the film rights to Once Upon A One More Time, per The Hollywood Reporter. 

The musical, which features some of Spears best-known songs, follows a meeting of the storybook princesses' book club when a fairy godmother gives them all a copy of The Feminine Mystique, inspiring a full-on revolution, set to "Baby One More Time" and "Toxic."

The stage version will be premiering in Chicago this fall, followed by a Broadway run. Spears is attached to produce the film adaptation, along with her manager Larry Rudolph.