“You can’t escape your enemies, because I’m back now, and I’m wide awake,” Damian Lewis’ Bobby Axelrod proclaims in the Billions season 7 trailer.
But given this is officially the main series’ final season (more on that distinction later), you’ll only have a handful of episodes to soak in the return of everybody’s favourite hedge fund billionaire.
Axe continues: “That’s the problem with vacations… they always end too soon.”
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According to Showtime, the hit finance drama’s swan song will guarantee: “Alliances are turned on their head… old wounds are weaponised… loyalties are tested… betrayal takes on epic proportions… and enemies become wary friends.”
Damian Lewis initially departed from Billions at the conclusion of season 5, shortly after the passing of his real-life wife Helen McCrory (Peaky Blinders).
A combination of personal tragedy and Bobby Axelrod’s story reaching (what we assumed was) its natural conclusion influenced the British thespian’s decision to exit stage left. Lewis revealed he’d planned to stay close to home with his teenage children in light of the “sadness in our family.”
“It’s difficult to keep mining, creatively. We know who he is,” Damian Lewis had said of his character to The New York Times.
Canonically, Axe fled to Switzerland as a means of evading the legal fury of long-time nemesis, New York State Attorney General Chuck Rhoades (Paul Giamatti). His freedom did, however, come at a cost of his entire fortune. In the words of the man himself while speaking with rival billionaire and now presidential candidate Mike Prince (Corey Stoll): “So… this is what it is to lose.”
Billions season 6 marked the first franchise instalment without Damian Lewis. But as we alluded to earlier, it certainly won’t mark the last…
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In the wake of Paramount’s merger with Showtime, the suits behind the scenes decided that Yellowstone shouldn’t be the only expanded universe in their collective stable.
The network has reportedly mapped out a total of four different spin-offs, including one titled Millions and another titled Trillions. Millions will be an offshoot of the main series and young up-and-comers in finance, while Trillions promises to be a “soapier” affair involved with the mega-rich sect of society a la Dynasty.
“Billions creators Brian Koppelman and David Levien are currently working out what the first spin-off will be, one that’s set in Miami. They are also overseeing development of a potential spin-off set in London,” reports Nick Romano of Entertainment Weekly.
Billions season 7 premieres on August 11th over in the US (Australian release date: August 12th) — check out the trailer above.
