HBO hasn't officially green lit True Detective Season 3 yet. But it sounds like that is getting closer and closer to happening. New episodes haven't been announced. But if they do happen, it sounds like the crime drama has found it's leading man. That is, if Mahershala Ali is willing too play along.

As much as True Detective Season 1 was unanimously praised by fans and critics alike, Season 2 was hated and trashed, and ultimately called one of the worst sophomore seasons of any series in recent memory. People simply didn't like it. And its cast, which centered around Colin Farrell, Vince Vaughn, Rachel McAdams and Taylor Kitsch, were seen as a poor substitute for original stars Woody Harrelson and Matthew McConaughey. For many months, it looks like the series had been canceled. But then word slowly started to leak that HBO might consider doing new episodes, if the team behind the show could get it back on track.

That apparently starts with casting Oscar-winning Moonlight actor Mahershala Ali in one of the main roles. According to Deadline, he is currently in talks to take over the analogy series. Which actually might come as disappointing news to some who were expecting a second go around with Detectives Rust Cohle and Marty Hart.

Talks are said to be in the very early stages, and there is no deal in place quite yet. It was previously reported that Deadwood creator David Milch was joining the creative team lead by True Detective mastermind Nic Pizzolatto. But since that news broke, there has been no substantial word on what is happening with the currently dormant series.

New episodes have been in the works for a while now. And with Ali coming in, it looks like the creative team is ready to finally move forward with their intended plan. Back in January, HBO President of Programming Casey Bloys said he was hopeful that everything would work out. And that Pizzolatto was "closing in on an idea that he was excited about."

It's unclear how on board audiences will be with True Detective Season 3 straight out of the gate. And it's going to have to deliver hard or go home forever. The first few episodes are considered a true TV masterpiece of noir storytelling. The show quickly gained a cult following, and it won a number of awards and nominations, which triggered its almost instantaneous renewal the first time around. But the second anthology story sank quick and never recovered. Most fans will admit that they never even watched the entire season all the way through.

Mahershala Ali won his Oscar for a Best Supporting role in this year's Best Picture Moonlight. But that's not the only place you've seen him. He also put in a riveting turn as one of the villains on Luke Cage and stunned audiences as Remy Danton in Netflix's House of Cards. He'll next be seen in the thriller Triple Frontier.