Based on Matt Wagner’s award-winning and widely popular comic book series, Netflix has ordered a series named Grendel that boasts of a wonderful, and growing, ensemble.
With eight episodes, the show will be starring Katy Keene actor Abubakr Ali in the lead role, making him the first Arab Muslim male to star as a lead protagonist in a comic book adaptation.
Rachel Goldberg serves as the director for the first two episodes and will be in charge of bringing Grendel to life.
The show will follow Ali’s character, Hunter Rose, who is a stellar fencer, assassin and writer, on a quest to avenge the death of his beloved. He clashes against the criminal underbelly of New York and suddenly realises that it is more beneficial to join them than spar with them.
Written and produced by Andrew Dabb, who can boast titles like Supernatural and Resident Evil, the show will also star actors like Jamie Ray Newman, Madeline Zima, Julian Black Antelope, Kevin Corrigan, Andy Milentus, Brittany Allen, Erik Palladino and Emma Ho.
Newman plays Jocasta Rose, Zima will be seen as Liz Sparks, Black Antelope as Argent, Ho as Stacy Palumbo, Allen as Annabella Wright, Palladino as Teddy Cicone while Mientus will play the role of larry Stohler.
The series will also be executive produced by Wagner himself, in collaboration with Chris Tongue, Keith Golberg and Mike Richardson from Dark Horse Entertainment. The production house has collaborated with Netflix on projects like The Umbrella Academy and Polar and is currently producing Samurai Rabbit: The Usagi Chronicles.
Wagner expressed his excitement about working with the streaming platform. He said, “I couldn’t be more thrilled about the Grendel saga, one of the longest-running independent comics series, finally being translated into live-action for the screen.”
He praised the entire team for bringing to life “this provocative adaptation that will bring my characters and concepts to an all-new audience and yet still provide excitement and surprises for die-hard fans.”
Talking about Ali’s character, Wagner said, “I’m especially excited to see Abubakr Ali bring the character of Grendel/Hunter Rose to life — he has the charisma, style and vital edginess that I’ve been envisioning in the role for years.”
