Summary

• Nick Offerman will play a U.S. President in Civil War and Death By Lightning.
• Civil War depicts a dystopian future American civil war; Death By Lightning is based on real events.
• Offerman's roles align with his character Ron Swanson's views on government in Parks & Recreation.

Nick Offerman’s next two major roles have a lot in common, and they create a trend that perfectly fits his post-Parks & Recreation career with a curious connection to his character in the series, Ron Swanson. Nick Offerman has appeared in a variety of movies and TV shows since the late 1990s, but he’s best known for his unforgettable role as Ron Swanson in the sitcom Parks & Recreation. Offerman’s deadpan style performance, sarcastic lines, and perfect comedic timing made him stand out in Parks & Recreation, and since the show’s end, he has shown his acting range in projects from other genres.

Offerman has been cast in Netflix’s Death by Lighting, produced by Game of Thrones creators David Benioff and D.B. Weiss, and these two roles have a lot in common, including a fun connection to Parks & Recreation.

Nick Offerman Is Playing A United States President In Civil War & Death By Lightning

Civil War will take viewers to a near future where a rapidly escalating Second American Civil War is engulfing the entire nation. The conflict is between the American government and the separatist “Western Forces” led by California and Texas. Civil War will see a team of journalists traveling across the country, struggling to survive as the government becomes a dystopian dictatorship and partisan extremist militias commit war crimes. Nick Offerman plays the President of the United States, who has served for three and whose decisions and tactics are questioned by the characters, and he’s also shown ordering attacks to stop the war.

Netflix’s Death by Lightning is based on Candice Millard’s novel Destiny of the Republic and tells the story of U.S. President James Garfield’s assassination by Charles Guiteau. Offerman will play Chester A. Arthur, the vice president to Garfield who, after Garfield’s death, assumed the presidency and served the remainder of his term. Offerman, then, is playing two different U.S. Presidents in his next two major roles, with one being a fictional leader and the other a very real one. Both characters will have different ways of dealing with the country’s biggest issues, with one dealing with a deadly conflict and the other taking over the presidency after a tragedy.

Nick Offerman Playing Presidents Is Perfect After Parks & Recreation

Nick Offerman playing two presidents after Parks & Recreation is perfect and fun given what Ron Swanson thought about the government. Among the many things that made Ron stand out from his Parks & Rec colleagues was his hatred for the government despite working for it. Ron never missed a chance to share his thoughts on the flaws of the government and what his ideal government would look like, even describing this as “one guy who sits in a small room at a desk, and the only thing he’s allowed to decide is who to nuke”, which is pretty much what he’s doing in Civil War.

Playing Chester A. Arthur is even more perfect as he’s a real-life president, whom Ron Swanson surely would have had a lot to say about. The president in Civil War would fit with Ron’s idea of a perfect government, as scary as it is, while Arthur would have been among the many things Ron criticized about the government, making both characters fitting for Nick Offerman in his post-Parks & Recreation career.