Who plays Merlin in The Librarians: The Next Chapter? The cast call him "deliciously villainous"
Who plays Merlin in The Librarians: The Next Chapter? Meet the star behind season 2's wizard, where you've seen him before, and why the cast can't stop raving about him.
Season 2 of The Librarians: The Next Chapter handed its shiny new wizard problem to a man who has already survived both a volcano in Mordor and a mysterious island full of polar bears. Merlin is played by Dominic Monaghan — yes, Merry from The Lord of the Rings, yes, Charlie from Lost, now with a beard full of ancient grievances.
A wizard walks into the 21st century
Monaghan's Merlin first materialized in the season 1 finale and graduated to full menace for season 2, which premiered August 2 on TNT. This is not your gentle, twinkly, owl-adjacent Merlin. In the season 2 teaser he draws up opposite Vikram and delivers a line that's a whole mission statement:
"Nice to meet you, Librarian," Merlin says in the trailer — right after declaring the world needs protecting from magic.
A wizard who's anti-magic. The call is coming from inside the tower.
The cast has fully lost it over him, respectfully
In a behind-the-scenes feature, the cast's descriptions of Merlin stacked up like a charge sheet: mischievous, deliciously villainous, a very complicated character. Dean Devlin — who clearly enjoys collecting Lost alumni like infinity stones — was equally giddy about the casting. Monaghan himself framed the character's whole deal in one line:
"There's so much temptation in the modern world for Merlin," he told Extra, while joking that the role required no acting on his part.
No acting required. From the man playing a chaotic immortal with boundary issues. We're choosing to find that charming rather than concerning, and frankly, so is the rest of the cast.
