Academy Award winner JK Simmons (Whiplash, 2014) will be joining the cast of Veronica Mars when it returns to screens on Hulu in 2019 for an eight-episode limited season.

As Kirsten Bell, who plays the now grown-up private detective Veronica Mars in the cult detective drama, is from Huntington Woods, MI, this show can now boast two great Michigan originals in its cast.  Simmons is originally from Grosse Pointe, MI.

When the series resumes Simmons will appear as Clyde Prickett, an ex-con charged with racketeering.   While in the pen, Prickettt provided protection for Big Dick Casablancas (David Starzyk) Neptune, California’s richest real estate developer.  Now out, Prickett’s a fixer for Big Dick.   Described as “smarter and more dangerous” than Big Dick, Prickett has “a network of fellow ex-cons he can count on to keep his own hands clean.”

This new season, for which no definitive appearance date has been announced,  delves again into the class divide in Neptune, California. Spring breakers are being murdered. The family of one victim hires Mars Investigations to find their son’s killer. Veronica is drawn into a mystery that pits the town’s wealthy “09ers,” who’d just as soon see the wild spring break crowd go away, against working-class residents who rely on the money partiers spend.

The first table read has already commenced for this 2019 seasons. Plus, seasons 1-3 and the 2014 fan-funded film will also arrive on Hulu during the summer for some binge recapping sessions.