Paradise creator Dan Fogelman discusses whether James Marsden's President Bradford will appear in future episodes of the Hulu show, despite his shocking season 1 fate. Also starring Sterling K. Brown, who serves as a producer too, and Julianne Nicholson, the series takes place in a city-sized underground bunker in Colorado three years after an apocalyptic event and follows Brown's Xavier Collins, who seeks to find the president's assassin while he himself comes under suspicion for the murder. Marsden's character is only seen in flashbacks throughout Paradise season 1 but has still become a favorite among fans.

In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Fogelman spoke about whether viewers will be seeing more of President Cal Bradford. Though he stressed that he appreciates Marsden's role within the series thus far, and that Marsden has been jokingly pitching a "zombie" Bradford, Fogelman indicated that, unless it fits the story, the character won't return. Read his full comments below:

James has been pitching me “zombie Cal Bradford,” which we’re not going to do. (Laughs) We killed two characters this season where we loved the characters, and obviously loved the actors, and James is amazing and a big part of it all. I’ve done this before on other shows; what we won’t do and what you can’t do is change your story just to accommodate because you like somebody. Because if the story’s not going in that direction, it just gets worse. But will there be opportunities in real ways to do meaty stuff? I think there is going to be, yes, because it’s going to fit inside of our story.

We have a really giant three-season story coming that’s bigger than what people think it is right now, and it’s going to span a couple of genres. The show was set up and sold as a political thriller about solving the murder of an assassinated president, and by the end of the first episode, you saw that it was something else and it went into a different genre. The second season is going to do the same thing to the first season. It expands upon itself. We have a plan and, hopefully, by the end of all three seasons, people will feel like they’ve been served a complete meal and that it’s all one piece, even though they went through a lot of different journeys to get to the end.

What This Means For Paradise Season 2

Dan Fogelman Has An Expansive Plan For Paradise

While it's hard to doubt that President Bradford was one of Paradise season 1's best characters, Fogelman is right in expressing his hesitancy about bringing him back in any significant way. It seems like a satisfying character arc for Cal was executed in season 1, and trying to preserve him jeopardizes the integrity of the story. There's much debate about whether a story should serve its characters or whether the characters should serve the plot. Ideally, one shouldn't aim to make one serve the other exclusively, but intertwine character and plot and make them serve each other equally.

While Paradise strives for the ideal, it seems like Fogelman leans more toward plot, sticking with the initial plan for the three-season-long story while keeping the actions and traits of his characters consistent and sensible, whereas some writers and creators would significantly alter the story based on character actions and popularity. Viewers shouldn't be too discouraged by Fogelman's comments, as there are ways for Marsden's Bradford to reappear in flashbacks without throwing a wrench in the story.

Our Take On Fogelman's Comments

How President Bradford Could Reappear In Paradise

One compelling part of Paradise was the turbulent relationship between Cal and his father Kane (Gerald McRaney), who has dementia. In one scene, Kane mistakes Jeremy (Charlie Evans), Bradford's teenage son, for Cal and says he's a good man. While the complexity of Cal and Jeremy's relationship is touched on in episode 5 of Paradise with great effect, it'd be interesting to see this relationship explored more in future flashbacks, especially since Jeremy is on track to take Cal's place. Fogelman has suggested Bradford won't be a major part of future Paradise episodes, but that doesn't mean he can't appear occasionally.

Source: THR