https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N_f1v0Nx5Sw
When ABC announced that Kiefer Sutherland, otherwise known as 24‘s Jack Bauer, would be starring in Designated Survivor next fall, our ears perked. That’s because the actor would be playing “a lower level United States Cabinet member [who] is suddenly appointed President after a catastrophic attack during the State of the Union kills everyone above him in the Presidential line of succession.” The part sounds more like that of a scrawny, weasel-like Counter Terrorism Unit analyst who doesn’t do much (or any) fieldwork, and the story seems like the result of an odd Tinder date between 24 and The West Wing. But it’s real, and according to the first trailer, Designated Survivor looks ridiculously intense.
ABC teased viewers with a quick 12-second trailer earlier this month, promising everyone that “our next president will not be elected,” but this full-length trailer gives us more backstory and one really big explosion. It’s a little light on major details — the same kind of major details that Sutherland’s character, Tom Kirkman, demands from his newly appointed Secret Service team following the attack — but that’s understandable at this point.
Aside from Sutherland, Designated Survivor stars Maggie Q, Kal Penn, Natascha McElhone and Italia Ricci. No word yet on who will be playing this particular universe’s version of Bauer, because let’s face the facts. If something like this were to happen to the Capitol, Bauer or a Bauer-like character would come sailing in to crack knuckles and kill terrorists.
