Fargo casts Ewan McGregor to play both main characters in season three

The third season of Fargo will star actor Ewan McGregor as the anthology series' two new main characters, brothers Emmit and Ray Stussy, according to a report from Deadline. The latest season is expected to begin production later this year and debut on FX in 2017. In staying true to its first two seasons, which jumped between Minnesota towns in 2006 and 1979 respectively, Fargo will skip ahead in time to 2010 to tell the two brothers' stories.

Fargo is based on the 1996 Coen brothers' film of the same name, though it styles itself similar to HBO's True Detective, with each season set in a different time period and featuring a different cast of characters, plot, and setting. The first season starred Billy Bob Thorton as Lorne Malvo, a Minnesota man who accidentally sets into motion a series of murders when he runs into and impacts Lester Nygaard, a violent murderer-in-the-making.

The third season of Fargo brings viewers to 2010-era Minnesota

The show was a huge hit, nabbing two Golden Globes and three Emmy wins, as well as fifteen other Emmy nominations. The second season, starring Kirsten Dunst and Patrick Wilson, wasn't showered with quite as many awards, but it was nonetheless equally as popular among critics. The show was created by writer and director Noah Hawley, who executive producers it alongside Joel and Ethan Cohen.

This plot appears to contain the same well-oiled mix of dark comedy and drama. McGregor's Emmit Stussy is a well-off Minnesota real estate mogul and a wholesome portrait of the perfect American life, Meanwhile, his brother is a less attractive parole officer who blames Emmit for his less-than-stellar position in life. You can imagine where this is going, and all the murder and absurd happenstance it will inevitably involve.

• SourceDeadline.com