Ryan Murphy has found his next Monster in Ed Gein… and Charlie Hunnam. The Sons of Anarchy star is set to play the serial murderer and body snatcher, often referred to as “the Butcher of Plainfield,” in a third cycle of the Netflix anthology series Monster.
Murphy announced the casting, as well as plans to start production next month, before a Monday screening of the series’ latest effort — Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story. Each cycle of the Monster franchise intends to tackle a different true-crime story after the massive success of the 2022 debut about serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer. That series still ranks as the third-most-watched English-language Netflix original of all time. Season two shifts the focus to the infamous Menendez brothers, who were convicted of killing their parents in 1989, with the case becoming a media sensation in the 1990s when it went to trial.
More Monster comes after Murphy wrapped his Netflix deal in 2023 after a string of massive hits. Though the prolific producer is now in business at the Walt Disney Company, he continues to work on his existing projects at the Netflix, including writing the season two opener of The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story with fellow showrunner and executive producer Ian Brennan.
No other casting was announced on Monday, but Hunnam’s addition comes a few months after the actor booked a starring role on another series. He’s also set to play the lead in Amazon’s Criminal.
As for season two of Monsters, all nine episodes drop Sept. 19 on Netflix.