Actor Garret Dillahunt has been cast to play the key recurring role of Roderick Campbell, a researcher and scientist working for Sentinel Services, in the upcoming superhero series "The Gifted" from Fox.

The "Raising Hope" actor will play the villainous researcher who will undertake a morally dubious mission that is yet to be revealed. The report from Deadline described him as "professorial, intense and intimidating" which hints that Campbell may have something nefarious in store for the special heroes. As a researcher, he could possibly be working on an easier way to track down people with special powers otherwise known as mutants.

Speaking of mutants, "The Gifted" centers on a family that is forced to go on the run when parents Caitlin Strucker (Amy Acker) and Reed Strucker (Stephen Moyer from "True Blood") discover that their kids Lauren Strucker (Natalie Alyn Lind) and Andy Strucker (Percy Hynes White) are mutants themselves and have unique powers. They go on the road to evade Agent Jace Turner (Coby Bell, "Burn Notice") and the Sentinel Services, a relentless government agency that tracks down mutants.

The casting of the mutant researcher strongly hints that Campbell will likely cross paths with the Strucker family down the line.

In the comics, Campbell was best known for the villain persona of Ahab who came from a dystopian timeline much like that of the first scene in the movie "X-Men: Days of Future Past." He was the leader of the Hounds, mutants with tracking abilities who were brainwashed to hunt down other mutants. The most famous of these Hounds was Rachel Summers, the daughter of Cyclops and Phoenix,

Dillahunt is best known for his work on "12 Years a Slave," "No Country for Old Men," and "Deadwood."

"The Gifted" will premiere on Monday, October 2 at 9 p.m. EDT on FOX.