Outlander has been renewed for Season 3, a hurrah-worthy renewal, and now that we know the series is moving forward for not just Season 3 but also Season 4, we have a lot of questions about the upcoming episodes, including who will be returning as the timelines change and Claire and Jamie work to get back to one another. In fact, in a recent interview we learned that Tobias Menzies is expected to return for the upcoming episodes.
Menzies confirmed the news to Variety that he will be back for Season 3. So far, the "tentative" goal is to at least bring Menzies back to play Claire's husband Frank on the series. If what he says holds up, the series will look into Claire and Frank's move to Boston and their marriage while Brianna was growing up. It should still give Menzies some meaty stuff to work with. His comments also indicate that we may get to see more of the interactions between Claire and Frank that showed how hopeless their marriage was in the face of her undying love for Jamie and her (seemingly) fantastical time travel story.
That may not be all Menzies will be involved with in Season 3, however. In Outlander, Tobias Menzies actually plays two characters: Black Jack Randall and Frank Randall. In Jamie's world, Black Jack Randall is a dark and angry man who takes what he wants through rape and brutality. He has been Jamie's main antagonist for some time on the series and his loss would be felt. He adds a lot to the drama, after all. By the time of the Season 2 finale, however, we knew Black Jack Randall was preparing to fight at the Battle of Culloden where he--books spoiler---dies in Diana Gabaldon's series. Likewise, the 1960s timeline showed us that Frank had died some time before Claire decided to return to the past. So, the fact that the actor will be back for Season 3 is actually quite significant and it says a lot.
Series lead Sam Heughan says he really hopes that TV audiences will get to see the Randall and Jamie fight during the Battle of Culloden.
If you've read the books you will know that Randall will appear again. I know that Diana has written the scene of how they ended up [back together], so hopefully -- and who knows, I haven't read the script yet, but hopefully, we'll get to see Jamie and Randall in the Battle of Culloden.
In the books, Jamie is really befuddled during the battle, which means that Diana Gabaldon doesn't have to get into any major details about exactly how the battle unfolded. TV is a different medium, however, and this would be another way to keep Menzies in the fold. While other characters have shuffled in and out of the narrative, Tobias Menzies' two characters have both been key components throughout the first two seasons of Starz's Outlander. He even featured prominently in the Season 1 key art photos. Losing Tobias Menzies' characters would be a big blow to Outlander, so if the show can figure out a way to keep the actor around for longer, we're all for it.
Unfortunately, we still have a long ways to go before Outlander returns to the schedule for Season 3. While we wait to learn more about the upcoming season, you can take a look at what we do know about the upcoming set of episodes.
