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iZombie Season 5 Adds NBA Legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
Former pro basketball player Kareem Abdul-Jabbar joins iZombie's fifth and final season. A loose adaptation of the comic book series of the same name created by Chris Roberson and Michael Alfred, the comedy-drama debuted on The CW in 2015, starring Rose McIver as Liv, a Seattle medical resident who was accidentally turned into a zombie while attending a boat party.
In the span of four seasons, what started as a secret with regard to the existence of zombies in the city has become a widespread crisis with Liv and her friends at the center of it all. By the end of iZombie's fourth season, Liv was already gearing up to retire as a Renegade smuggling sick humans through the border of New Seattle in the hopes of saving their lives by turning them into a zombie but changed her mind last minute. As the final season of the show nears, new details about what fans can expect in it emerge online, including a huge (literally and figuratively) casting announcement.
Following McIver's Twitter post alongside the NBA legend, THR now reports that Abdul-Jabbar has officially boarded the final season of iZombie. According to the outlet, Abdul-Jabbar will take the role of Zed - one of just two Seattle City Council members who didn't sneak out of the city before the wall went up. Zed is a zombie, while his colleague is a human which makes for a great conflict between the two. Check out McIver's social media post below.
It's interesting what The CW particularly saw in Abdul-Jabbar to cast him in the role considering that based on Zed's characterization, it doesn't sound like it calls for a specific type. The network could've cast any actor for the part and it wouldn't have any significant narrative impact as long as he portrays the character well. Unless, of course, there's more to the role than what's initially been announced. While Abdul-Jabbar has dabbled before in acting, with a slew of TV and film appearances, it's been a while since he fully used his acting muscles. Although he played a version of himself in 2017 mockumentary series The Comedy Get Down in 2017, that's still significantly different from his upcoming stint in iZombie.
In terms of narrative, Liv, and her friend, Peyton (Aly Michalka), who is the dead mayor's chief of staff, are trying to run the city's government. Adding the friction between Zed and his fellow councilman into the fray and iZombie's season 5 is shaping up fine. This is especially important not only because it'll be the final outing of the show, it's also because they're building off of a creatively strong fourth season.
