The Expanse casts Lost étoile, star Elizabeth Mitchell in key role 

During the show’s Comic-Con panel (moderated by this writer) in San Diego, it was announced that former

star Elizabeth Mitchell would be joining the cast in a recurring role for season 3.

Mitchell — an Emmy nominee for her work as Dr. Juliet Burke on ABC’s mysterious island drama — will be playing a character that, according to the network, “brings a new, spiritual perspective to the series.”

Judging by that description, it’s possible Mitchell could be playing Anna Volovodov, a Methodist pastor who is first introduced in the third novel in

to help explore the Ring, but trouble breaks out on the ship when it reaches the Slow Zone, with Anna at the center of the action. But it is also entirely possible that Mitchell could be playing a character unique to the television adaptation since the show has sprinkled in entirely new people as well.

If Mitchell is indeed playing Anna, it could signal that the action in season 3 may extend past the activity from book 2,

, which the show was still in the midst of at the end of season 2. However, the TV version has been known to move characters around before, like with Crisjen Avasarala (Shohreh Aghdashloo), who has been on the show from the very beginning even though the character did not appear in the novels until the second volume.

Mitchell joins Oscar-nominee David Strathairn, who will also be appearing in a season 3 mystery recurring role. Season 3 will air on Syfy in 2018.

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