‘Outlander’ Season 7: Who Is Denzell Hunter?
Outlander Season 7 will see the arrival of a character named Denzell Hunter. The social media accounts of the Starz time-traveling drama recently announced that Joey Phillips — a British TV and theater actor– has been cast in the role. Who is Denzell Hunter in Outlander? Here’s what we know about the character who first appears in Diana Gabaldon’s seventh book An Echo in the Bone.
Warning: Outlander Season 7 spoilers ahead!
‘Outlander’ announces Denzell and Rachel Hunter will arrive in season 7
In book seven of Gabaldon’s Outlander literary series, readers meet Denzell Hunter and his sister Rachel after the start of the American Revolutionary War in the summer of 1777.
Denzell (known as Denny among friends) and Rachel are living the quiet country life in a Quaker settlement when Young Ian (John Bell) arrives at their farm with an injured William Ransom (Charles Vandervaart).
Despite his Quaker religion and their community’s desire to reconcile with England, Denzell is a freedom lover who wants to serve as a Continental army surgeon.
Fans of the books were expecting the Hunters to arrive in season 7, and they were proven right when the Outlander Twitter account announced that Phillips had been cast as Denzell and Izzy Meikle-Small was cast as Rachel.
“We have our Hunters! Please welcome @izzy_meikle (Rachel) and @joeyphillips92 (Denzell) to the world of #Outlander,” the official Outlander Twitter account shared.
Who is Denzell Hunter?
Denzell and his sister became Quakers when their parents died and the local Religious Society of Friends took them in as orphans until he could learn a trade. Their mom died when Rachel was born, then their father drowned three years later.
After their parents’ respective deaths, neighbors tried to help the Hunters by attempting to find a living family member. That’s when they find John Hunter, a famous surgeon in London.
He provides Denny the financial resources to attend the new medical college in Philadelphia. Later, Denny travels to London to work with John himself. While Denny is away from home, Rachel stays behind with the village women and takes care of his house.
When Denny returns home and the Revolutionary War is looming, the Quakers determine the best course would be for America to reconcile with England. But Denny believes liberty is a gift from God, and he wants to fight with the colonists.
Denzell finds love in ‘Outlander’ book 7
After Young Ian and William arrive, Rachel and Denzell sell their house and travel north to join the Continental army at Fort Ticonderoga. Denny joins the war effort as a surgeon, and Rachel as a camp follower. When the Hunters make it to the fort, they meet Jamie (Sam Heughan) and Claire Fraser (Caitriona Balfe).
The foursome become good friends, with Denzell and Claire having a working relationship because they are both surgeons. Despite it being the 18th century, he values her medical abilities. And, in turn, she respects him as a doctor. Claire even teaches him how to make ether.
Denzell’s storyline in An Echo in the Bone also features a love interest. He meets Lady Dorothea Grey when he is in London. And by the end of the book, they reunite and get engaged. But that’s not where his story ends. Denzell also returns in book eight, Written In My Own Heart’s Blood.
Season 7 of Outlander will premiere on Starz in late 2022 or early 2023.
