Ian Somerhalder is back in the vampire game, courtesy of Netflix.
The streaming service has given a 10-episode, straight-to-series order to the drama “V-Wars,” an adaptation of the IDW novel of the same name. The “Vampire Diaries” alum will lead the cast, but — spoiler alert — not as a bloodsucker.
“V-Wars” tells the story of Dr. Luther Swann (Somerhalder), who enters a world of horror when a mysterious disease transforms his best friend, Michael Fayne, into a murderous predator who feeds on other humans. While the disease begins to spread and more people are transformed, society fractures into opposing camps, with normal people pit against the growing population of vampires. Swann must race against time to understand what’s happening, while Fayne rises to become the powerful underground leader of the vampires.
The project is not Somerhalder’s first dip into the supernatural, which comes just one year after his long-running series “The Vampire Diaries” wrapped its eight-season run on The CW.
The drama hails from High Park Entertainment and IDW Entertainment and is based off IDW’s franchise of the same name, written by best-selling author Jonathan Maberry. William Laurin and Glenn Davis (“1-800-Missing”) will serve as showrunners, with “Stargate”s Brad Turner directing and exec producing. Eric Birnberg and Thomas Walden will exec produce for High Park, alongside IDW Entertainment president David Ozer and CEO Ted Adams, and Games Gibb for Marada Pictures.