Imprisoned within a pocket dimension since the end of The Vampire Diaries, the villainous Kai Parker is poised to return in its spinoff series Legacies, with actor Chris Wood reprising his fan-favorite role.
Kai's return has been teased since the Season 2 premiere, with his nieces Lizzie and Josie Saltzman discovering a mythical relic that served as the key to his extra-dimensional prison. For Wood, the offer to reprise the role came at a time after he was feeling burned out portraying Mon-El in Supergirl Seasons 2 and 3.
"After I left Supergirl, I had sort of taken a hiatus. I think, as actors, we kind of feel our energy level deplete and you need non-work related things to fill that back up in order to empty the tank again. I had been very choosy in taking time and focusing on writing and my non-work life, and then this came at the right moment," Wood told Entertainment Weekly. "This role has always been so rewarding for me because Kai's so eccentric and out there that, in playing him, I kind of have no rules. It's a very freeing role because the way that I work when I play Kai is very erratic and unpredictable. The only way that he works is if he's a little bit unhinged -- we never know what he's going to touch, do, say, think, anything. I was so glad that I went back and did this because it gave me that burst of energy that I was needing.”
The exact nature of Kai's return is still unknown, but it has been hinted by series showrunner Julie Plec that he will leave a major impression on Josie as the young witch begins to dabble with dark magic.
Airing Thursdays at 9 pm ET on The CW, Legacies stars Danielle Rose Russell as Hope Mikaelson, Jenny Boyd as Lizzie Saltzman, Kaylee Bryant as Josie Saltzman, Quincy Fouse as Milton Greasley/MG, Aria Shahghasemi as Landon Kirby, Peyton Alex Smith as Rafael Waithe and Matt Davis as Alaric Saltzman.