‘Power Book II’ Gets Early Pickup, Adds Michael Ealy to Season 4 Cast

Starz is locking in one of its Power spinoffs for a longer term: The premium cable outlet has renewed Power Book II: Ghost for a fourth season ahead of its season three premiere in March.

The series has also added Michael Ealy (Barbershop, Stumptown) to its cast for season four.

“The high-octane drama of Power Book II: Ghost continues to resonate with our viewers and we’re thrilled to get season four production underway ahead of our season three debut,” Kathryn Busby, president original programming at Starz, said in a statement. “It’s clear our fans are ready to devour more of this explosive series and we look forward to having Michael join our incredible cast.”

The third season of Ghost, which premieres March 17, will follow Tariq St. Patrick (Michael Rainey Jr.) as he works to get his trust, get back to his family, and get out of the game. The emergence of a ruthless new foe, however, interrupts Tariq’s plans to reunite with Tasha (Naturi Naughton) and Yaz (Paris Morgan) and puts him, Brayden (Gianni Paolo), and Effie (Alix Lapri) back into business with the Tejadas. Mary J. Blige and Cliff “Method Man” Smith also star.

Ealy will join the series in season four as Detective Don Carter, a rising NYPD officer who was on track to become police commissioner until his wife was killed in a crossfire between rival drug gangs. He abandoned his former career track and now leads an elite drug task force that elicits concrete results against drug-related violence.

Season three of Ghost will be the first under showrunner Brett Mahoney, who took over the show when creator Courtney Kemp moved her overall deal to Netflix; she remains an executive producer of the Power franchise. Mahoney and Kemp (via her End of Episode banner) exec produce Power Book II: Ghost with Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson (via his G-Unit Film and Television), Mark Canton of Atmosphere Entertainment MM and Chris Selak. Starz parent Lionsgate Television produces the series.