Norman Reedus is swapping the crossbow for the CIA, and James Marsden is his new problem

Norman Reedus is swapping out crossbows for covert ops, as he lines up next to James Marsden for a fresh Apple TV+ thriller called Disavowed. If you thought Reedus was sticking to the post-apocalyptic woods till the end of time, well, it turns out he fancied a go at something a bit slicker (and probably marginally less muddy).

Apple’s been quietly piecing together this series since back in May. Marsden (known for Westworld, X-Men, and being generally good at playing blokes in moral crisis) is in the driving seat as Brad Griffin, a high-level CIA officer whose luck takes a truly spectacular nosedive. Apparently, he's unceremoniously sacked right in the middle of a planet-spanning pursuit of some top-tier assassin. Because that's what you want — to be made redundant with a sociopath still on the loose.

Disavowed is led by James Marsden as legendary CIA case officer Brad Griffin, abruptly fired in the midst of a global hunt for an assassin, who then decides to chase the $15 million bounty attached to the killer's capture.

Now, details about Reedus's exact role are completely under wraps for now — classic move on Apple’s part. The only thing we do know: he’s signed as a series regular, so expect much more than a glorified cameo. Anyway, if you had your hopes up for him playing yet another grizzled survivor, you might be in for something different. (Or not. It’s Reedus. We’ll see.)

The Brains Behind the Series

Art Marcum and Matt Holloway are at the wheel, both veterans of the action-thriller game (their fingerprints are all over Iron Man and Men in Black: International, more or less). Don’t expect kitchen-sink realism — this one’s pure taut, glossy espionage, shredded nerves and massive sums of money as motivation. Marsden, meanwhile, is also shifting into an executive producer’s chair for this one, so he’s got skin in the game beyond just looking rugged in a suit.

Michelle MacLaren, whose directing credits run from Breaking Bad to Game of Thrones, is set to helm the first two episodes, which should, at the very least, guarantee a punchy start. Production comes by way of Apple Studios, working with Blue Marble Pictures. If you’re after a release date, don’t hold your breath — no air date has been announced yet, so it’s all in the hands of Apple’s mysterious calendar gods for now.

Reedus: Life After Daryl

Reedus may be forever synonymous with Daryl Dixon thanks to The Walking Dead and the currently-running spin-off series — speaking of which, that offshoot is still trudging along, with a finale not due till 2027 (file that under 'TV that will outlast us all'). If you missed it, he’s also been frontman for the motorbike-and-celebrity travelogue Ride With Norman Reedus since 2016 on AMC. The bloke doesn’t sleep, apparently.

On top of Disavowed, he’s juggling several other upcoming projects:

• The Housewife — an indie film set to make its official bow at the Toronto International Film Festival in September 2026.
• He’s returning as Murphy MacManus for Boondock Saints 3, and will be executive producing to boot.
• Pendulum — a thriller written by Mark Heyman, currently aiming for release in January (yes, the one that’s just around the corner).
• And if you needed proof his schedule is chaos: he’s taken a role in a new feature helmed by Japanese genre veteran Takashi Miike.

The Daryl Dixon spin-off’s final episode is scheduled to arrive in 2027.