James Marsden Leads Apple TV+ Spy Thriller ‘Disavowed’

James Marsden is staying very busy — and very Apple. The streamer has greenlighted Disavowed, a new action thriller series with Marsden starring and executive producing, marking yet another high-profile project for an actor who seems to be everywhere right now.

In Disavowed, Marsden plays Brad Griffin, a legendary CIA case officer who gets abruptly fired in the middle of a global hunt for an elusive assassin — one who just killed his colleague. Stripped of his credentials and cut off from the intelligence world, Brad goes rogue and decides to chase the $15 million federal bounty on the assassin’s head himself. It’s a premise tailor-made for the kind of tense, globe-trotting thriller Apple has been leaning into hard.

The series was created by Art Marcum and Matt Holloway, the writing duo behind the film that literally launched the Marvel Cinematic Universe — 2008’s Iron Man, starring Robert Downey Jr. and directed by Jon Favreau, which grossed over $585 million worldwide. More recently, they wrote and executive produced Uncharted with Mark Wahlberg and Tom Holland, and also have Kraven the Hunter with Aaron Taylor-Johnson on their résumé. Disavowed marks their first foray into television, and they’ll executive produce alongside veteran showrunner Tom Spezialy, Marsden himself, and Blue Marble Pictures’ Theresa Kang and Caroline Garity.

Blue Marble Pictures, for what it’s worth, is the company behind Apple’s acclaimed drama Pachinko — so this team knows how to deliver for the streamer.

A Long Road to Greenlight

This one had been quietly in motion for a while. Casting for the lead role began as far back as last July, Marsden received the offer in September, and it took another eight months before Disavowed was formally greenlit with him officially attached as star and EP. The wait, apparently, was worth it.

The role keeps Marsden firmly in Apple’s orbit. He currently stars opposite Jon Hamm in Your Friends & Neighbors Season 2, playing Owen Ashe — a role he stepped into for the show’s second run. That series alone would be enough for most actors. But Marsden is operating at a different level right now.

The Marsden Moment

It’s been a remarkable stretch for the two-time Emmy nominee. He earned his first Emmy nomination for playing President Cal Bradford in Hulu’s Paradise — a role he returned to for Season 2 in 2026 — and previously picked up both Emmy and Golden Globe nominations for Amazon’s Jury Duty. His TV résumé also includes Westworld, Dead to Me, and 30 Rock.

On the film side, he’s currently starring in Hulu’s Mike & Nick & Nick & Alice, and later this year he’ll finally suit up again as Scott Summers — aka Cyclops — in Avengers: Doomsday, as the X-Men make their full-scale entry into the MCU. That’s a lot of plates spinning at once.

Disavowed doesn’t have a premiere date yet, but with the greenlight now official and a cast and creative team locked in, the clock is running. Given everything else Marsden has going on, it’s almost impressive he had room on the calendar.