JONATHAN BANKS (“Mike Ehrmantraut”) joins ‘BETTER CALL SAUL’

Fuck yeah! Jonathan Banks is bringing the scowl-riddled hotness of Mike Ehrmantraut to the Breaking Bad prequel thing that I think all of us Blue Meth addicts are vaguely interested in.

Jonathan Banks has joined Bob Odenkirk inBetter Call Saul, AMC/Sony TV’s upcoming prequel to Emmy-winning Breaking Bad that centers on Odenkirk‘s unflappable criminal lawyer Saul Goodman. Banks will be a series regular on the show conceived by Breaking Bad creator Vince Gilligan andBreaking Bad writer-producer Peter Gould. The prequel series,slated to debut on AMC in November, will chronicle the evolution of Saul before he ever became Walter White’s lawyer. The deal with Banks means that Saul will have his trusted private investigator/fixer Michael “Mike” Ehrmantraut by his side. Banks was a regular on Breaking Bad and played Ehrmantraut for 2.5 seasons after being  introduced in the drama series’ second-season finale. A former Philadelphia police officer, Mike worked as the the Head of Corporate Security at Los Pollos Hermano and enforcer in Gustavo Fring’s crystal meth operation. He later became involved with Walt (Bryan Cranston) and Jesse (Aaron Paul), ultimately getting shot and killed by Walt in the Season 5A finale while trying to quit the drug business. Banks’ performance in the 2012 portion of Season 5 earned him an Emmy nomination, one of two for the veteran actor. (The first was for his role on the 1987 drama series Wiseguy).

[Deadline]