'Prison Break' season 5 release date: William Fichtner won't be back as Alexander Mahone next season
Former FBI fugitive hunter Alexander Mahone will be missed in the fifth season of "Prison Break," after reports confirmed that actor William Fichtner did not sign to reprise his role in the series' upcoming reboot.
Mahone's character used to be the leader of the task force that was organized by the FBI in season 2 to hunt down the fugitives Michael Scofield (Wentworth Miller) and Lincoln Burrows (Dominic Purcell), who managed to break out of the Fox River State Penitentiary. But he later on became a prisoner himself when he was arrested for drug possession.
In the third and fourth season, Mahone became one of Michael's allies and he helped him break out Sara (Sarah Wayne Callies) from prison during the series finale.
While Fichtner's camp has yet to comment about the possibility of his character's appearance in the "Prison Break" reboot, speculations claim that the actor became busy working on other projects like the "Independence Day: Resurgence" and the "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" movies to have time for the upcoming TV show.
Meanwhile, Purcell seemed to have dropped a major teaser about the plot of "Prison Break" season 5 in his latest Instagram post, which showed his heavily tattooed arm.
During the first four seasons, the elaborate escape plan used the intricately designed tattoo on Michael's back which turned out to be the blueprint of the prison cell where Lincoln was detained. This could mean that the tides have turned for the new season of the series, and Lincoln's ink will be used to free Michael this time.
The actor also shared several details about the series in an interview with Deadline, saying: "The show is taking place in Yemen; we're dealing with ISIS and ISA, and obviously we left off with Michael presumably dead. He wasn't, he ended up working for this organization. It got to the point where he couldn't do it anymore, and they threw him in a jail in Yemen to change his mind. He didn't change his mind, they set him up."
FOX has scheduled the airing of "Prison Break" season 5's premiere episode for spring 2017.
