After weeks, or perhaps months, of anticipation, Nikolas Cassadine has officially been taken off the "presumed dead" list. On Thursday's episode of General Hospital, the dark prince was revealed to be very much alive -- and with a very new face.
Marcus Coloma assumes the role of Nikolas, which was originated by Tyler Christopher in 1996. In story, Nikolas has been very active -- even if fans didn't see him on-screen. Viewers learned that Nikolas may have been the person who took Cassandra Pierce months ago, and he has been following (stalking?) Ava Jerome.
"I feel so honored and humbled to be a part of this world," Coloma says in a video shared by GH on Twitter. "It's fantastic, what the writers have been doing, all of the actors are just incredibly talented, and the fans are the most passionate fans I've ever seen. I'm really looking forward to you guys seeing what we have coming up, so keep watching!"
Please help us welcome @marcuscoloma to the cast of General Hospital! Nikolas Cassadine is back and he's got a lot in store for Port Charles. #GH pic.twitter.com/5osGAi0r4D
— General Hospital (@GeneralHospital) November 1, 2019
Coloma is a daytime newcomer. He is perhaps best known for his starring role in the Beverly Hills Chihuahua film franchise. He has a recurring role as Father Jonas Alcaraz on Major Crimes. He has made appearances in primetime on Drop Dead Diva, One Tree Hill, The Mentalist, Lucifer, and Point Pleasant. He has appeared in the FOX pilot Adam & Eve as well as ABC's False Profits pilot.
Christopher abruptly exited his role as Nikolas in June 2016. A year later, in December 2017, Christopher jumped to NBC's Days of our Lives where he created the role of Stefan DiMera. In September 2018, Christopher exited his role on DAYS for personal reasons. Earlier this year, Christopher told Soaps In Depth that he had been commuting from Indiana to Los Angeles to work on DAYS and that the commute had resulted in him missing too much of his children's lives. He also revealed that "[a]lcohol addiction is something I've battled since I was a teenager. I've had some amazing success with it and some really awful failures." Christopher's time away from DAYS allowed him to address those issues.
Are you glad that Nikolas is back on the canvas? Are you disappointed that Tyler Christopher was unable to return to the show? We want to hear from you -- so drop your comments in the Comments section below, tweet about it on Twitter, share it on Facebook, or chat about it on our Message Boards.
