Actor Bradley James has landed the title role in Damien, a new Lifetime drama series that will act as a sequel to the 1976 horror classic The Omen. According to Deadline, James (Merlin, Homeland) will play Damien Thorn, the dashing Antichrist who is “seemingly unaware of the satanic forces around him,” like the black dogs that follow him everywhere. The six-episode series—developed by former Walking Dead showrunner Glen Mazzara—will explore Damien coming to terms with his destiny, which was spelled out in the original film by a creepy rhyme about turning man against his brother but might be updated for modern audiences as a demonic text message with the fire and party hat emojis.
Director Shekhar Kapur has signed on to direct and executive produce the first episode— Kapur is known for the Academy Award-nominated Elizabeth, and he will hopefully apply his talent for visual resplendence to the myriad freak-accident death scenes that are practically inevitable here. As has been foretold, Damien will premiere when the Jews return to Zion and a comet rips the sky, which is to say 2015.