Deadly Class (TV series)

Deadly Class is an American action drama television series developed by Rick Remender and Miles Orion Feldsott for Syfy. It is based on the comic book series of the same name created by Remender and Wesley Craig and published by Image Comics. The series stars Benedict Wong, Benjamin Wadsworth, Lana Condor, María Gabriela de Faría, Luke Tennie, Liam James, and Michel Duval. Set in the late 1980s, the series revolves around King's Dominion, an elite private academy where students are trained to become assassins.

The series was produced by Sony Pictures Television, Universal Cable Productions, in association with Gozie AGBO, Chipmunk Hill and Getaway Productions. Anthony Russo and Joe Russo served as executive producers alongside Remender, Feldsott, Mick Betancourt, Lee Toland Krieger, Mike Larocca, and Adam Targum. In November 2017, casting began for a pilot ordered by Syfy. In April 2018, the series was picked up for an order of 10 episodes. Filming took place in Vancouver, British Columbia.

The first episode premiered as a special preview online on December 20, 2018 and on Syfy on December 30; the series officially premiered on January 16, 2019. It received mixed reviews from critics, with many praising the cast, visuals, and choreography while criticizing the tone and pacing. The series was canceled in June 2019.

Premise
Set in a dark, heightened world against the backdrop of late 1980s counterculture, Deadly Class follows a homeless, disillusioned teen, Marcus Lopez Arguello, who is recruited into King's Dominion, a storied elite private school chiefly serving the offspring of the world's top crime families. Maintaining his moral code while surviving a ruthless curriculum, vicious social cliques, and his own adolescent uncertainties soon prove vital for the youth.

Main

 * Benedict Wong as Master Lin, the ruthless, no-nonsense headmaster of King's Dominion
 * Benjamin Wadsworth as Marcus Lopez Arguello, King's Dominion's newest addition and Saya's pledge
 * Lana Condor as Saya Kuroki (黒木沙耶), the leader of the Kuroki Syndicate and Marcus's sponsor
 * María Gabriela de Faría as Maria Salazar, a member of the Soto Vatos and Chico's former girlfriend
 * Luke Tennie as Willie Lewis, leader of the F.W.O. (Final World Order) and Marcus's best friend at King's Dominion
 * Liam James as Billy Bennett, a punk rocker who is one of Marcus's best friends and the son of a corrupt, drug smuggling cop
 * Michel Duval as Chico, the leader of the Soto Vatos, and Maria's former boyfriend

Recurring

 * Taylor Hickson as Petra, a goth hailing from a death cult
 * Siobhan Williams as Brandy Lynn, a racist Southern belle and the leader of the Dixie Mob
 * Sean Depner as Viktor, notorious as the son of Joseph Stalin's top assassin
 * Jack Gillett as Lex Miller, an easygoing outcast
 * Isaiah Lehtinen as Shabnam, son of a wealthy banker who is shunned by his peers
 * Juan Grey as Juan, a member of Maria's clique Soto Vatos
 * Tom Stevens as Chester "Fuckface" Wilson, Marcus's psychopathic bunkmate
 * Sam Jin Coates as Yukio (ゆきお), a member of the Kuroki Syndicate and a student at King's Dominion
 * Brian Posehn as Dwight Shandy, an aging stoner
 * Olivia Cheng as Madame Gao, head of that assassins guild and Master Lin's sister
 * David Zayas as El Alma Del Diablo, Chico's father
 * Viva Lee as Nahia, Master Lin's daughter
 * Victor Andrés Trelles Turgeon as Holy Ghost, El Diablo's enforcer

Guest

 * Henry Rollins as Jürgen Denke, former Poison Lab instructor
 * Erica Cerra as Miss De Luca, Hand-to-Hand Combat instructor
 * Ryan Robbins as Rory Heemsle, homeless man who terrorized and preyed on other homeless individuals
 * Graeme Meekison as Jaden, an attending student at King's Dominion
 * Theresa Wong as Shu, Master Lin's wife
 * Kelcey Mawema as Gabrielle, a young woman who befriends and romances Willie
 * Christopher Heyerdahl as Master Zane, combat skills instructor
 * French Stewart as Scorpio Slasher, psychopathy instructor
 * Chanelle Peloso as Sue Ann, Chester's ally
 * Ice-T as himself
 * Doralynn Mui as Riku (リク), a top lieutenant in the Kuroki Syndicate

Episodes
Episode titles are taken from punk rock songs of the 1980s.

Production
Principal casting for the pilot of the series was released by Syfy in November 2017, with Benedict Wong, Benjamin Wadsworth, Lana Condor, María Gabriela de Faría, Luke Tennie, Liam James and Michel Duval announced as the pilot's leads. It was picked up to series by Syfy on April 18, 2018, for a planned 2019 debut. The visual effects for the series, including the Las Vegas sequence in Episode 5, were created by FuseFX, CVDVFX, Zoic and One. Six One Eight.

Critical response
On the review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes, the series has an approval rating of 64% based on 36 reviews, with an average rating of 6.23/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "Despite well executed action and smart casting, Deadly Class struggles to meet the mark set by other spooky teen shows." Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned a score of 58 out of 100 based on 13 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".