If you’ve been a fan of Starz’ massive Spartacus series from the beginning, one thing you may be is confused as to the order of events that took place during the various incarnations of the series. Or, you just may want to see everything in the order it was intended and follow along as the characters and situations develop.

Whatever your wishes, Starz seems to have them covered with its just announced plan to run every episode of Spartacus, in chronological order, as one epic viewing event.

Here’s more from the official Starz press release:

For the first time, Starz will air all 29 episodes of Spartacus in chronological order, beginning with “Gods of the Arena,” then “Blood and Sand,” and concluding with “Vengeance,” Friday nights from 9pm – 11pm ET/PT, beginning June 8th.

Spartacus: Blood and Sand was one of the most interesting and fun to watch shows to appear on TV in a long time. It’s combo ob blood, gore, sex, action and swordplay made it a big hit for Starz and a star of Andy Whitfield.

Sadly, Andy Whitfield was not able to continue with the series and passed away due to his illness. However, as they say in Hollywood: “The show must go on.” And it is with new Spactacus Liam McIntyre who, at first glance, slightly resembles Whitfield and also looks to be a worthy successor to him.

The upcoming second (we don’t count the prequel) season, titled Spartacus: Vengeance, takes place right after the events of the first season of Spartacus and tells the continuing story of the slave revolt and its ramifications throughout Rome. To get you ready for the new season, we’ve got a preview of the first minutes of the premiere episode with an introduction by Spartacus himself. Looks good. We’ll be watching.

Check out the video after the break. Spartacus: Vengeance premieres on Starz on Friday, January 27.

Some of the biggest controversy in TV over the past few years also happens to be tied to one of the best shows we’ve seen on American TV in a while. That controversy surrounds the STARZ original series Spartacus. The first season, titled Blood and Sand, was one of the cable networks highest rated series of all time, so it was natural that it would get a second season.

Due to the main star, Andy Whitfield, getting diagnosed with cancer, the show went on hiatus, and then continued on with a prequel season without Whitfield. Sadly, the star passed away earlier this year, leaving the showrunner, Steven S. DeKnight, without a star, and a network looking to continue the franchise.

Reluctantly, they recast their Spartacus, and the team planned out Spartacus: Vengeance, which will continue in the Spartacus universe. It looks like the network is now ready for the show’s January premiere. From Deadline:

Even though the show just wasn’t the same without Andy Whitfield as Spartacus (although he did make a small cameo) that didn’t stop Spartacus: Gods of the Arena from debuting to impressive numbers last Friday night on Starz. The premiere episode of SGOTA had over 1.1 million viewers for its first run at 10 PM, 66% higher than the original series’ premiere a year ago.

In addition, the show had 1.9 million viewers combined for the 10 PM and 11 PM showings, 77% above the debut of the original series. Yes, that’s a lot of people indeed.

I’m guessing audiences were probably just hungry for more awesome gladiator action and to learn the story of the rise of the House of Batiatus. Even though, if you’ve seen the original series, you know how it all turns out for many of the characters, it was still fun to watch their first appearances and see how it all comes together.

It was especially interesting to see how Batiatus himself (John Hannah) began as quite a different person and how he will evolve into the evil man he is later in the series. In some ways its too bad this series will only be six episodes.

Although, in the end, that’s probably just enough to get us ready for season two of the original series, which is returning next year with a new actor (Liam McIntyre) taking on the role of Spartacus.

As we’ve all found out by now, Andy Whitfield won’t be retuning to season 2 of Spartacus: Blood and Sand due to illness. In addition, the search for an actor to replace him is going in and we expect to get that news pretty soon.

Until then, Starz has gone ahead and made a prequel series to Spartacus: Blood and Sand called Spartacus: Gods of the Arena, which we have the first trailer for today. The new series features some of the actors from the original show, including John Hannah (Quintus Batiatus), Lucy Lawless (Lucretia) and Peter Mensah (Doctore), but tells the story of the beginnings of the Batiatus household.

For more, here’s the official synopsis from Starz:

As the prequel begins, Quintus Batiatus is the acting Lanista while his father Titus is on an extended visit to Sicilia. But Batiatus isn’t satisfied with just the thought of taking over the Ludus one day; he aspires to political power and prestige in Capua, and perhaps beyond. In the class-conscious world of ancient Rome, the House of Batiatus must first earn the respect of both politicians and socialites before being granted the right for its gladiators to fight in the much-revered championship bouts called the Primus. Batiatus must not only survive the harsh politics of Capua, but also compel his hedonistic fighter, Gannicus, to embrace being a champion gladiator who will bring esteem and respect to the House of Batiatus.

No, this isn’t exactly the Spartacus we’ve come to know and love, but it still looks pretty fun. We’re going to give it a chance. Check out the trailer after the jump. Spartacus: Gods of the Arena premieres January 21 at 10/9C on Starz.