All men lose when they die, and all men die, Kirk Douglas famously said in Stanley Kubrick's 1960 film, Spartacus. "But a slave and a free man lose different things."

Fast-forward five decades and Spartacus: Vengeance, Starz' frantically paced, blood-soaked and over-thetop TV adaptation is about to return with new episodes and a new actor in the title role. Spartacus is now a free man and very much alive but, as the de facto leader of a slave rebellion and the sworn enemy of ancient Rome, he's on the run. Like a trusty sword, the "vengeance" in the title cuts both ways. Spartacus, as played by Australian actor Liam McIntyre, wants vengeance for his dead wife, murdered by a duplicitous Roman legionnaire with the delightfully evil-sounding name of Gaius Claudius Glaber.

The Romans, for their part, want vengeance for the slave rebellion, which resulted in the deaths of numerous high-born Romans and their families.

This is not a tale that can end well - for anyone. To hear McIntyre, co-star Lucy Lawless and creatorproducer Steven DeKnight tell it, though, that's where half the fun lies. Spartacus: Vengeance was made in the vein of its predecessor, Spartacus: Blood and Sand, and last spring's prequel, Spartacus: Gods of the Arena. Like those series, it's deliberately heightened and exaggerated, more like a graphic novel - and exceedingly graphic, at that - than a rote TV drama.

"In episode 1, the very first episode, one of the things we put up on the board in the writers' room was a sign saying, 'Brothel attack,' and you just can't go wrong with a title like that," DeKnight said, with a wry laugh. "We didn't want it to be simply a case of, 'Let's just go in and attack a bunch of guys and get some information.' We thought to ourselves, 'They should attack a brothel.'"

"Why not?" McIntyre chimed in, with a straight face. "Makes sense to me."

McIntyre, 29, was cast as a replacement to the late Welsh actor Andy Whitfield, who was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoma shortly after concluding Blood and Sand in New Zealand in 2010. Whitfield died 18 months after his initial diagnosis. McIntyre, who appeared in the HBO miniseries The Pacific, was cast shortly after that.

"It's probably the saddest thing I've ever had to be part of," McIntyre said quietly. "I think, in the beginning, I was able to tackle the role because I believed he would get better. He made this choice to leave the show and get better, and that was fantastic. I've never been sadder than the day they passed the news on to what really is a family. Early on, Andy sent an email to me, in which he said, 'It's like a family there.'You can't imagine how sad it was, when we found out he had died.

"There was a coming together, though, after the initial downtime. We said to ourselves, 'We owe Andy the respect to do this job as best we can. Let's come together and do the best damn show we can.' We pulled ourselves together, and we did excellent work until the end of the season. You know, what else can you do, right?"

McIntyre says it helped that the Spartacus set is more collaborative than most TV sets. The actors are encouraged to go over scenes with the director and make suggestions of their own that will help the character come alive.

"The writers often come up with great scenarios and great situations," McIntyre said. "They spell out the dramatic beats. The stunt team and the directors see that, and they're given the chance to stage fights in a new and original way. We're always looking to entertain the audience in a new way, and tell a piece of the story through the action. It's always a challenge, but one everyone looks forward to. I'll read a script and go, 'Wow, they're really going to do that.' Then they give it to the actor, and they let the actor actually add something, as well. It's a great, creative show in that way."

Faithful followers of Spartacus: Blood and Sand may be surprised to see Lawless back for more. After all, the last time fans saw her character, she was run through the stomach with a sword - while pregnant - after which she collapsed alongside her ne'er-do-well husband, Quintus Lentulus Batiatus, now decapitated, and, sadly, not expected to return, either in this world or the next.

"The writers were really rude to me this year," Lawless said. "They were really rude. Usually, they are just cruel. Now they were rude and cruel. It's, like, cruel and unusual punishment.

"As an artist, though, I loved it. I really did. They put me through the ringer this season, and I'm so grateful."

Spartacus had it tough as a gladiator and slave. Sadly, life is not about to get any easier, now he's leading a life on the run.

"Not comfortable at all," DeKnight said. "One of the things I really love about exploring this story is that he precipitated this rebellion, but, once they are out and about, things are not going well. It's not an easy journey, not with the other members of his group, and not for him, personally. He's a man who never really wanted this mantle. This is the season where we really move Spartacus from being this singular individual to, by the end, a leader of men. That journey is very difficult."

Spartacus: Vengeance premieres Jan. 29 on The Movie Network and Movie Central.

© Copyright (c) The Regina Leader-Post