Godfather of Harlem is bringing in new blood for Season 4, with Rome Flynn portraying notorious drug lord Frank Lucas—yes, the same Frank Lucas that Denzel Washington played in American Gangster.

The new season, which April 13 on MGM+, finds Bumpy Johnson (Forest Whitaker) still fighting for control of Harlem as he battles New York’s mafia families. Now, he’s facing Lucas’ arrival and his growing quest for dominance, as well as the fallout from Malcolm X’s (Jason Alan Carvell) assassination. As a result, Johnson must also deal with his daughter Elise’s (Antoinette Crowe-Legacy) involvement with the Black Panthers.

Rome Flynn on working with Forest Whitaker and joining mid-series

Flynn told Blavity/Shadow and Act Managing Editor, Trey Mangum, that joining Godfather of Harlem opposite Forest Whitaker felt similar to joining How to Get Away with Murder opposite Viola Davis.

“This kind of mirrors that experience for me, you know, joining a show with another prolific actor,” he said. “Obviously [they have] different approaches, different characters, but knowing that, stepping into those shoes, I needed to be prepared. I rely on the work that I put in, and I put in a lot of work in approaching Frank Lucas on this series. I just wanted to make sure I could bring something to the show, bring what I feel is special to me and unique to me to the show, and bring more life to it as well.”

Flynn also acknowledged the challenge of keeping a show fresh this deep into its run.

“You know, a lot of times in series like [its] three, fourth, fifth seasons, it gets hard. It gets hard to continue to tell the stories and keep] people engaged, and so…every season they have something great happening on this show,” Flynn continued. “This season I feel like it’s kind of like no other ’cause they’re introducing so much with Frank Lucas and the Black Panthers and so many other prolific characters. And it’s definitely been a joy for me.”

Could the franchise continue with Frank Lucas after Bumpy Johnson?

The story timeline is nearing the end of Johnson’s real-life legacy. Season 4 is set in 1966; Johnson passed away in 1968. Lucas, meanwhile, operated into the 1970s before becoming an FBI informant. Flynn shared thoughts on whether the show could pivot and continue with Lucas as the central figure.

“Yes, absolutely,” he said. “You know, the good thing about film is that there is no real concept of time. We can literally make a whole series, and it could be 10 episodes long, an hour each, and it can be over the course of a night… or of a weekend or a week. …We know there’s a timeline and we are sticking to that timeline. If you finish the story and you know what happens at the end, you know these certain things that happen. I do think the moment that Frank Lucas walks off the bus, that being his introduction as just synonymous with the actual timeline. Also, the fact that the clock is ticking the moment he steps foot in Harlem makes it feel like there is an end in sight. We don’t really picture that when we watch the show, but the moment he gets there, it’s like they don’t last long together.”

Flynn added, “We know at some point that the story has to be told to where Bumpy Johnson is in a point where he’s not there. And so we don’t know if that’s over the course of a couple of seasons or if it’s one season. …There’s so much story—and rich story—to be told with Frank Lucas that we can create a whole new series and a whole new multiverse of things with Frank, and telling that story uniquely too.”

Whether Frank Lucas gets his own spinoff depends on fans, says Rome Flynn

Flynn said that whether Lucas’ story gets told beyond Godfather of Harlem will depend entirely on audience response.

“It’s all gonna depend on the consumers and how much people care,” he said. “…Part of it is making sure we can get [the story] out there, which is why I’m doing all [I can]. That’s part of the game—you gotta play in order to get the results. And you just go [in] fingers crossed ’cause you know what we have is good, and [if] people know about it, then they’ll want it. And that’s the hope.”