WandaVision star lands lead role in new TV show

WandaVision star Kathryn Hahn has landed the lead role in The Comeback Girl, an upcoming limited series based on the life of comedian Joan Rivers.

The actor, who earned an Emmy nomination for her performance as Agatha Harkness in the popular Marvel series, is set to play the notoriously outspoken stand-up, who passed away in September 2014 at the age of 81.

She had stopped breathing during a routine endoscopy on her throat several days earlier.

Gregg DeGuire//Getty Images

While her career really began to take off in New York in the 1960s, the Showtime outing will reportedly explore her fallout with The Tonight Show's Johnny Carson – whose show she was a regular guest of – over the creation of her own programme, The Late Show Starring Joan Rivers, back in 1986.

At the time, the established talk show host talked openly about how he hadn't heard the news from her, and was upset by it, which subsequently led to him banning her from appearing on The Tonight Show.

According to Variety, The Comeback Girl focuses on Rivers' reaction to the cancellation of The Late Show, which tragically coincided with the death of Rivers' husband, television producer Edgar Rosenberg.

"Trailblazer. Adored. Cruel. Diva. Joan Rivers had a life like no other. At age 54, she was a superstar comedienne…and then it all fell apart," the official synopsis reads.

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"The Comeback Girl is the awe-inspiring untold story of how Joan Rivers persevered through near suicide and professional abyss to rebuild herself and her career to become a global icon."

Hahn will executive produce alongside Arrowverse boss Greg Berlanti, who will act as director, working with scripts from writer Cosmo Carlson.

Before she appears in the new show, though, Hahn will be seen in Apple TV's The Shrink Next Door. Just last month, she wrapped filming on Rian Johnson's Knives Out sequel, that she stars in alongside Dave Bautista, Janelle Monae, Ethan Hawke and Kate Hudson.

WandaVision season 1 is streaming on Disney+.