Join Us As We Ogle Our New Beloved Spartacus!

The producers of our favorite action/adventure/softcore porn television series, "Spartacus: Blood and Sand," have found the man who will replace lead actor Andy Whitfield in the show's second season. His name is Liam McIntyre. He's real hot.

Yesterday, the team of dedicated men and women who work to bring us the very best in erotic historical fiction on "Spartacus" took to the show's Facebook fan page to announce the identity of the new series lead. Liam McIntyre is an Australian actor who apparently completed and "excelled at a grueling and rigorous audition process" while competing with two other actors to replace the ailing Andy Whitfield in the role of Spartacus. (And can we just pause here to imagine the ridiculous shit they must have put him through? We're imagining an obstacle course replete with moving, spinning saw blades and flame-throwing robots.)

Who's to say if Mr. McIntyre's got the right stuff to become our new, "beloved" Spartacus? Our major concern at the moment is that he may be a bit on the skinny side to portray the sexy hunk of man we're looking for in our next Spartacus. We came across some old headshots of his on photographer James Axford's SmugMug account, and McIntyre looks positively waifish. But the photos seem to have been taken for some sort of skinniness-themed photo shoot, and who knows how long ago they were taken and who knows what kind of insane diet/workout regimen the series producers have got him on at this very moment. And can the man act? We'll see how well he does with the role of Spartacus, but he did pretty well playing a Russian crime boss in "Radev," a 2009 Australian short film:

Good, right? (Go here to check out the entire 10-minute film.) This guy has serious potential. We're going to try to withhold judgment on the new guy until we actually get to see him at work in the series. We are feeling pretty optimistic about him, though! From the look of these few photographs we've managed to find of him, Liam McIntyre can glower better than pretty much anybody. Just look at that face of his. The man is practically made out of shadows—an effect that we're sure will be put to good use on the show. "Spartacus" hasn't led us astray so far, and we're definitely excited to see the new guy in action.

· LIAM MCINTYRE CHOSEN TO PLAY TITLE ROLE IN NEW ‘SPARTACUS'
(facebook.com)
· James Axford (jamesaxford.com)