We don’t know if True Detective can make Season 3 work, let alone start revisiting past characters, but one hope for a Rust and Marty reunion may be dashed. Woody Harrelson isn’t interested in any kind of return to HBO’s True Detective, even if his partner says otherwise.

Keep in mind that a third True Detective venture has already placed Moonlight Oscar-winner Mahershala Ali in a central role far-removed from either previous season, though star Matthew McConaughey has repeatedly expressed an interest in reprising his role as Rustin Cohle. Not so for McConaughey’s onscreen partner Harrelson, who told Yahoo Entertainment in a recent interview that any instance of revisiting their characters would lead to diminished returns.

I don’t see doing that [again], because it went very well the first time and [if I] come back around to it, what else are you going to hear but, ‘Not as good! Just wasn’t as good. Boy, you guys were good before, but this time…’ I don’t want to even hear that.

Back in December, McConaughey said of returning to the role:

I’ve talked to the creator Nic Pizzolatto who’s taking a little break from it. But if that thing was written well and it came up again, I wouldn’t hesitate for a second … Oh, I’m open to it for sure.

At the very least, we know Harrelson and McConaughey will produce Season 3 with original director Cary Fukunaga and Scott Stephens. Creator Nic Pizzolatto will showrun and direct with Jeremy Saulnier (and a little help from David Milch), while the story is said to follow “a macabre crime in the heart of the Ozarks, and a mystery that deepens over decades and plays out in three separate time periods.”

There doesn’t seem to be much room for either of the series’ original stars to return, but who’s more worth True Detective checking on, Harrelson’s Hart, or McConaughey’s Cole?

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