It’s hard to believe that production for Season 5 of Lost is starting in 12 days. With the gear-up of production comes the trickling of casting news. The first Lost news this year regards 2 new characters, Caesar and Ilana.

Caesar is described as “a dangerous, physical and extremely intelligent male between the ages of 35 and 45. Although his intentions are unclear, this much is certain: He’s as skillful at charming people as he is at killing them. He also has a dark past…”

As for Ilanna, she’s “a European female in her late 20s to early 30s who possesses great intelligence, but who’s also dangerous as all get out. She’s alluring and apparently used to getting her own way.”

Jeff Jensen at EW, where the scoop comes from, points out that Caesar was the name of the primate who led the revolt against the humans in Planet of the Apes. Could Lost’s Caesar be Ben’s predecessor as leader of the Others, who ordered the gassing of the Dharma Initiative?