Smallscreen News

Starz 'Gods of the Arena' previews, Comic Con, photos and more!

By April MacIntyre Nov 20, 2010, 21:30 GMT

The Starz "Gods of the Arena" premiere is set for January 21 at 10PM.

Andy Whitfield, star of "Spartacus: Blood and Sand," you are in our thoughts daily.

Starz hit series "Spartacus: Blood and Sand" dominated last year as one of the top TV efforts from any network, and it was due in large part to a son of Wales, raised in New Zealand young actor named Andy Whitfield, a relative newcomer who turned in one of the most complex and layered performances of any action lead ever portrayed on the smallscreen.

His Spartacus was introspective and a man of action, soulful and at the same time feral in the carnage he rained on Batiatus' ludus.

Peter Mensah (Doctore) will be back in January for the awaited prequel called "Gods of the Arena," his character was a mesmerizing force to behold.

Andy Whitfield is in New Zealand fighting an aggressive relapse of Non Hodgkin Lymphoma. We wish him good health and hope for his return to the series.

The Starz "Gods of the Arena" premiere is set for January 21 at 10PM.

The original series Spartacus: Blood and Sand was Andy's character's story, a captured Thracian, both he and his wife are abducted and imprisoned.

He plots to be reunited with her as he is sold to a ludus as a gladiator slave. He is trained to fight in the arena or die.

This visceral and mesmerizing filming technique employed by producers ensured that a second season was guaranteed. The news of Andy's cancer set back plans, and the prequel idea was born to buy some time.

Lots of sex, violence and intrigue make this an R rated potboiler where we see all kinds of machinations evolve in the hot house ludus, overseen by John Hannah (Batiatus) and especially with Nick Tarabay's Asher, who is a lame gladiator with a scheming, covetous nature.