Manifest Stars Josh Dallas and Melissa Roxburgh Reunite in NBC's The Hunting Party
Nearly three years after the divisive Manifest finale was released in 2023, Josh Dallas and Melissa Roxburgh are reuniting in a different NBC series. Dallas and Roxburgh played siblings Ben and Michaela Stone in the supernatural drama that aired for three seasons on NBC before being canceled and subsequently saved by Netflix for a fourth and final season. The two actors will now reunite in an upcoming episode of The Hunting Party season 2. Roxburgh leads the series as Rebecca "Bex" Henderson, a former FB profiler working as part of an elite group that hunts down serial killers that escaped from a secret prison. Dallas will play one of those killers, known as the Connecticut Cobbler, in season 2, episode 8. The Connecticut Cobbler's real name is Elliott Carr, who previously worked as an artisan shoemaker and prefers "only the rarest and most exotic of leathers – think alligator, rhino and people, skinning his victims alive.” This will be a drastic change from the dynamic that Dallas and Roxburgh had during Manifest's four seasons. While they sometimes had their differences, Ben and Michaela were close siblings who supported each other. After being on Flight 828 and returning five and a half years later with the Callings, they were forever changed and had a unique understanding of each other.
Melissa Roxburgh's Michaela and Josh Dallas' Ben looking worried while in a club in Manifest
In The Hunting Party, Roxburgh's Bex will be hunting Dallas' Connecticut Cobbler, a killer who sounds similar to Silence of the Lambs' Buffalo Bill, as he targets new victims in an attempt to make a new pair of shoes. Along with being a departure from Manifest, this will also be a significant change from Once Upon A Time, the other show Dallas is best known for where he plays the heroic Prince Charming/David Nolan. After playing Thor's Asgardian friend Fandral in the God of Thunder's first movie in the Marvel Cinematic Universe as well, Dallas is temporarily leaving behind his heroic roles to play a twisted villain. While Roxburgh and Dallas are seemingly only reuniting for one episode of The Hunting Party, Roxburgh shared with ScreenRant an exciting update about Manifest's future. She teased that the show's creator, Jeff Rake, is working on a spinoff and has an upcoming novel, Detour, which connects to the series. Check out her comments below:
I do think that they've kind of had [ideas] within the same world, but maybe a different storyline. And then Jeff actually wrote a book kind of in the same world as well called Detour, so that's on its way out. I think people who like Manifest have a lot to chew into coming up and who knows? Maybe there will be a crossover.
Prior to Roxburgh's comments, Rake revealed on August 28, 2024 (828 Day) that he and his creative partners are working on a Manifest spinoff while clarifying that nothing had been officially greenlit yet. This is likely the same spinoff that Roxburgh refers to, though it is unknown whether she, Dallas, or any of their co-stars will be involved.
For now, Manifest fans can look forward to seeing Roxburgh and Dallas reunite in The Hunting Party, with the two actors exploring a dynamic that is distinct from the Stone siblings' relationship. The Hunting Party releases new episodes Thursdays at 10 p.m. ET on NBC.
