Major ‘Mayans MC’ Star Joins Kurt Sutter’s Netflix Show

Mayans M.C. alumClayton Cardenas is set to reunite with Kurt Sutter. The actor, who starred as Angel Reyes across all five seasons of the Sons of Anarchy spinoff, has been cast in a recurring role on Sutter’s upcoming Netflix Western series The Abandons, Deadline reported Monday. Cardenas joins a cast that includes Lucas Till, Nick Robinson, Diana Silvers, Lamar Johnson, Aisling Franciosi, and Natalia del Riego, as well as Lena Headey and Gillian Anderson, who were previously announced as the show’s leads.

The upcoming series “follows a group of diverse, outlier families pursuing their Manifest Destiny in 1850s Oregon, as a corrupt force of wealth and power, coveting their land, tries to force them out. These abandoned souls, the kind of lost souls living on the fringe of society, unite their tribes to form a family and fight back. In this bloody process, ‘justice’ is stretched beyond the boundaries of the law.” The show is said to “explore that fine line between survival and law, the consequences of violence, and the corrosive power of secrets, as this family fights to keep their land.”

The Netflix drama will mark one of Cardenas’ first major roles since Mayans M.C. ended last year. The hit series, co-created by Sutter as a spinoff of Sons of Anarchy, centered around Ezekiel “EZ” Reyes, a member of the Mayans M.C. charter on the California/Mexico border. Cardenas starred on the show as EZ’s brother, Angel Reyes. The series ran for five seasons from 2018 through 2023. Cardenas, who previously played Diego Castillo on the Emmy-winning series American Crime, has gone on to appear in the 2023 short Mundo and the hit series The Cleaning Lady.

Details of the actor’s role in The Abandons are not available at this time, though it is confirmed he will star in a recurring role. The Netflix drama was created by Sutter, who also serves as executive producer and showrunner. Netflix greenlit The Abandons for a series order back in 2022. The series has been in development since at least November 2021. Heady (Game of Thrones) joined the cast in March 2023, with Anderson (The Crown, Sex Education) joining her that June. The two actresses will star as the show’s leads, Fiona, a strong, devout matriarch, and Constance, the matriarch of the wealthy Van Ness family. A premiere date for the 10-episode first season has yet to be announced.