Paul Bettany joins Steven Yeun in Pagans, Netflix’s supernatural family drama

Netflix’s Pagans has its second big name. Paul Bettany is set to star opposite Steven Yeun in the supernatural drama, as Deadline first reported. He will play Mag, described only as a charismatic stranger.

The show comes from Joshua Zetumer, who created FX’s Say Nothing and serves here as showrunner and executive producer. Drew Goddard is among the other executive producers, and Yeun produces through his own company as well.

A father, two kids and something wrong

Yeun plays Gus, a man left to raise his son and daughter alone after his wife dies. His son, Nate, is an ordinary boy. His daughter, Alice, is not, and the tension between father and girl slowly turns into something far darker. The logline pitches the series as a mix of emotion, horror and humor that digs into the thoughts parents rarely admit to.

Bettany joins a cast that already includes Sabine Grace as Alice, Logan Kim as Nate, Marin Ireland as a single mother named Janelle and Intae Kim as Casey, Gus’s younger brother. No premiere date has been announced.

Born from a bidding war

Pagans first made headlines in September 2025, when Zetumer’s spec script set off an unusually intense auction. According to Deadline, 15 to 18 studios, platforms and producers took part, and the script was shared through a special app that let each buyer read it only within a 24-hour window. Netflix won and skipped the pilot stage, ordering the show straight to series.

The project also continues Yeun’s run with the streamer after Beef, which won him an Emmy. Bettany, meanwhile, is currently back as Vision in Marvel’s VisionQuest on Disney+, recently played Antonio Salieri in Amadeus and has Tom Ford’s Cry to Heaven coming up.

Reported by Deadline, Deadline (2025), TV Insider. Compiled with AI tools.