Jason Dohring on the Veronica Mars spin-off: "I hope I get to be a part of it."

30 June 2014 | 4:43 pm | Daniel Cribb

Jason Dohring on the Veronica Mars spin-off: "I hope I get to be a part of it."

It's been seven years since we saw Jason Dohring riding waves on Neptune Beach as Logan Echolls on Season Three of Veronica Mars. When the show was cancelled in 2007, fans were left in limbo, struggling to deal with withdrawals, until creator Rob Thomas launched a Kickstarter campaign last year that made crowdfunding history. Seven years later fans still had a burning passion for the show, raising $5,702,153, and thrusting the characters of the cult hit back into the spotlight. While they look a little older, have families and other projects on the go, some things haven't changed. “I think when I go over there I'm going to try hit the reef, you know what I mean,” Dohring says on his Oz Comic-Con Melbourne appearance. “I like the water a lot, dude. I think there's something peaceful and calming about it. I just got back from Northern California – doing water sports, and skiing and weight boarding, and all that sort of stuff, and I've got a couple of kids now, so I'm kind of introducing them to all that as well.”

A swarm of Marshmallows (yep, that's the name given to Veronica Mars fans) will no doubt venture to Oz Comic-Con to chat about the film, and other works Dohring has been involved with in recent years, including reoccurring roles on Ringer and Moonlight. For Dohring, it's the perfect opportunity to give something back. “We didn't even know how many fans we had, or whether they were willing to put up their own money. I snuck into a theatre, just to see what people thought of it and you know, the credits went dark after everything and somebody shouted out, 'We did it!', and everybody started cheering, and I was like, 'Dude, that is so cool. What a unique experience'… One person saw me and then it was just a disaster; I was there for an hour and a half just taking pictures,” he laughs. Fans were teased with a Season Four trailer in 2007 that never eventuated to anything, and while many had lost hope for a revival, it seems that Thomas may have always known something else would arise. Perhaps the loose ends in Season Three were a means to build to something bigger years down the track. “I think with a few episodes to go, the network went up to Rob and said, 'We're not really sure if you'll be coming back, so if you want to maybe wrap things up you should maybe do that,' and he did the exact opposite in true Rob fashion and just left everything totally open, which turned out to be one of the biggest selling points in getting more of this story told.” If you thought the Veronica Mars film signalled everything was over, think again. While it may not be as prevalent in the film, Thomas planted loose ends to potentially revisit in the future. “He left a couple of loose ends; he didn't tie it all up like real nice… You know, [the characters] talk about 'This is just the tip of the iceberg', in regards to how corrupt the police force is, and I think after that sheriff went down, then maybe it opens the door for Keith [Mars] to take the position and possibly uncover corruption.

“With Veronica now back to private-eyeing and having Tina [Majorino] there to explore things for her, I think sort of just the corruption level and finding out what that's all about – it just leads to more stories.” If that wasn't enough, it's been confirmed that Ryan Hansen – who plays Dick Casablancas on the show – has been given his own spin-off, Play It Again, Dick. The spin-off will feature Hansen playing himself trying to get the character of Casablancas his own show. Although not much else has been announced yet, Dohring reveals he and Kristen Bell (Veronica Mars) have been approached to appear and are keen. “I love what Ryan does, and I love the writing that Rob writes for him. I think it's such a great success story and it couldn't have happened to a nicer guy. He had one word in the pilot or the second episode and by the end of Season Two he was a regular.  “I hope I get to be a part of it and I love Ryan and love working with him as well, he's just such a super guy… They contacted me several weeks ago and we'll just see what happens. I know that Rob's working on another pilot for another show that got picked up, iZombie, and we'll just have to see how it plays out. I know he's quite busy, and Kristen is having another kid, so I don't know how it's all going to play. I think we're all just waiting to get done with the projects we're on.”