Dean Devlin at the World Premiere of GEOSTORM, at the TCL Chinese Theater, October 16, 2017. Photo Credit Sue Schneider_MGP Agency
LEVERAGE: REDEMPTION has its third-season premiere on Prime Video on Thursday, April 17. The series is a sequel to the original LEVERAGE (2008-2012), both created by Chris Downey & John Rogers. In the two shows, a team of former criminals use their diverse skills to pull con jobs (complete with a wide variety of fake identities) on big-money, big-power villains who are shafting individuals.
Original LEVERAGE cast members who are series regulars on LEVERAGE: REDEMPTION include Gina Bellman as grifter extraordinaire Sophie Devereaux, Christian Kane as ex-military muscle Eliot Spencer, and Beth Riesgraf as daredevil thief Parker. Aleyse Shannon has joined the crew as hacker Brianna Casey. Aldis Hodge, a regular on the first LEVERAGE, makes guest appearances as tech whiz Alec Hardison; Noah Wyle, a regular on the first two seasons of LEVERAGE: REDEMPTION, recurs in Season 3 as erstwhile evil/now good-guy lawyer Harry Wilson.
Dean Devlin executive-produces LEVERAGE: REDEMPTION, as he did the original LEVERAGE. He also writes and directs episodes. Devlin also has produced and written features including STARGATE and INDEPENDENCE DAY, executive produces the series THE LIBRARIANS: THE NEXT CHAPTER, executive-produced THE LIBRARIANS and THE OUTPOST, and created the series ALMOST PARADISE and THE ARK.
When Devlin gets on Zoom to talk LEVERAGE: REDEMPTION Season 3, the view of his office provides a bit of insight into his psyche, or at least his tastes.
Prominently displayed is the title character’s mask from the 1974 PHANTOM OF THE PARADISE, a movie musical directed and co-written (with Louisa Rose) by Brian De Palma, which is an updated version of the Faust legend.
“I adore this movie,” Devlin says. “It’s one of my favorite movies of all time. I wish I had the rights to it. I’ve always wanted to do it as a play. Don’t you think it would be a great stage musical?”
There’s also a large painting on the wall behind him. Devlin explains, “It’s called ‘The Invisible Man.’ It’s a man in a subway, busking, and all the people walking by and not seeing him. I’ve always felt like I’m the Invisible Man,” he laughs, “so that painting has always been meaningful to me.”
When did Devlin find out that LEVERAGE: REDEMPTION was getting a third season?
“I think Eisenhower was president,” Devlin jokes. “It feels like a long time ago. But yeah. Season 2 had already come out, and had done well, and we went through that whole waiting stage, and when we finally got the good news, it was like, ‘All right, we’ve got to race to go get this thing made, and then pull it all together again.’
LEVERAGE: REDEMPTION SEASON 3 key art | ©2025 Prime / Electric Entertainment
“The way television works today is not like it did in the old days. It used to be that you had to get in front of the advertising folks in February, you had to have your show debut in the fall, when the new cars were going to go on sale. There was a whole structure to television that just doesn’t exist anymore. So, you never know whether you’re getting another season, or when you’re going to find out, and it’s nerve-wracking, but for those of you who’ve hung in there with me from the original LEVERAGE into LEVERAGE: REDEMPTION, you know that I never give up, and I never lose faith.”
When was Season 3 of LEVERAGE: REDEMPTION scripted?
“Well, you don’t start writing until you’ve been picked up, so we started writing about twelve weeks before we started shooting, almost a year ago.”
In other words, Season 3 was written and shot before the November 2024 presidential election, even though it seems that many of the issues the team confronts are at the forefront of public debate right now.
Devlin doesn’t disagree. “I always say that our show is a little bit like THE SIMPSONS. You know how THE SIMPSONS predicts the future, like you’ll see something [in reality] that’s, ‘Wait a minute, didn’t they have that [as part of an episode] on THE SIMPSONS ten years ago?’
“Well, LEVERAGE used to be a lot like that. In other words, we did a show about private prisons, and four years later, that became a huge issue in Arizona. We did an episode where Hardison hacks into an airplane, and people thought, ‘That’s crazy!’ and then four years later, someone hacked into an airplane. But this season, more than any other season we’ve ever done, it’s really meeting the moment. Now, maybe it is because we shot it over a year ago, but every episode is dealing with something that, somewhere in our country, people are freaking out about. So, LEVERAGE: REDEMPTION is meeting the moment in a way that it never has before. And it’s really adding, I think, something very special to this season.”
It does appear that, more than before, most of the characters will be horrified and stunned by something nefarious that’s been perpetrated on whoever they’re trying to help, only to have lawyer Harry unhappily tell them, “No, that’s legal.”
Devlin laughs. “Yeah. I think that’s one of the biggest differences is that, in the old LEVERAGE, all they had to do was expose something that was bad. And this season’s like, ‘Yeah, not only is it bad, it’s legal to do it. Now what do you do?’ And that’s when you need a Leverage team.”
Speaking of Harry, was Wyle’s participation in LEVERAGE: REDEMPTION this season somewhat reduced because of his producing/writing/directing/starring activities on the new medical hit series THE PITT?
“A little bit. They were in the middle of writing it when we were shooting, and Noah is not just a producer on it, he’s also one of the writers on it. So, he took a little bit of time out, but we still got him in the majority of the episodes.”
LEVERAGE – REDEMPTION key art | ©2021 Electric Entertainment
Hodge, meanwhile, is starring in feature films and toplining another Prime Video series, CROSS.
“I always say, Aldis has become the James Brown of his generation. He’s the hardest-working man in show business. And the fact that he tries to carve out whatever little free time he’s got to come back and be on LEVERAGE is something I’m absolutely grateful for, and he’s a mensch to do it, and it’s a real tribute to his character as a man, and as an artist, that he gives whatever little time he’s got left to LEVERAGE, just because he loves the show, he loves the people who work on it and, most importantly, he really loves the fans of LEVERAGE.”
Devlin says he never felt that LEVERAGE: REDEMPTION needed another character due to the combined absence of Hodge and Wyle.
“The thing that we learned very early on is, you can’t replace a character with another character. But you can look at the stories that you have and say, ‘Well, who do I need for that? And if one of the characters that I would normally need for it isn’t available, do I need to create a new character for it, or can this be part of our existing characters?’ So, we usually start with, ‘Who’s the villain, who do we want to punch in the neck this week?’ and then we work backwards from that.”
Season 3 delves deeply into Parker’s often chaotic persona.
“I think every season leans slightly towards one character. Last season [had] Eliot reuniting with his father, and Sophie coming to terms with the people she had hurt in her previous life, and then reuniting with her stepdaughter.
“This season, I think, leans a little more towards Parker. Parker had to suppress a lot of parts of her personality in order to grow as a person, but suppressing it doesn’t make it go away. And so, this season, she has to deal with some things that she hasn’t dealt with before, and it takes us to some really unusual places, especially in the season finale.”
In the Season 3 finale, there are some stylistic experiments, including noirish black-and-white sequences. “I’m so proud of that episode.”
What are some of the other themes explored in the third season of LEVERAGE: REDEMPTION?
“All of these characters have bonded and have formed a family, but that doesn’t mean they didn’t continue to grow individually. And sometimes, as you grow individually, you grow apart. It doesn’t mean you love them any less, it doesn’t mean you don’t want to be with them as much, but suddenly new things are interesting to you, or new fears have come up. And so, all the characters have evolved this season, and it sometimes puts them in conflict. And that was one of the things that we really enjoyed looking at.”
What’s the status of ALMOST PARADISE, which has had two seasons so far and stars LEVERAGE: REDEMPTION’s Kane?
Beth Reisgraf, Aleyse Shannon. Christian Kane, Gina Bellman, Noah Wyle in LEVERAGE – REDEMPTION| ©2021 Electric Entertainment
There’s nothing on the horizon at present, but Devlin relates, “I haven’t given up. I’m looking at trying to find a new home for the show. It might be my most beloved show that I’ve ever made, and yet, it’s the hardest one I’ve had to keep in any one place,” he laughs. “So, we’re talking to a lot of people about trying to get Season 3 up and running. I have not given up, and I will not give up.”
And what would Devlin most like people to know about LEVERAGE: REDEMPTION Season 3?
“I think what I’d like people to know most is, LEVERAGE is a tonic, especially in times like today. This is a show where, for an hour or two a week, you can leave all the things that are making you nuts, and you can get a group of Robin Hood-like thieves to have your back.”
But what if, in the course of watching LEVERAGE: REDEMPTION, people learn that something horrible that they didn’t know about before is legal, and that makes them nuts?
Devlin laughs again. “And then the next week, we’ll get them, too.”
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