Michael Bay might blow up TV soon

The movie business has gotten so unstable that apparently even Michael Bay is downsizing. The Hollywood Reporter just announced that for the first time ever, the Transformers director is in talks to take his explosive tendencies to the small screen.

Bay is being considered to direct Barbaric (no relation to 2022's Barbarian), an “acerbic fantasy series” for Netflix based on the Vault Comics series of the same name. Sam Claflin and Patrick Stewart are also attached to star in the show, which will be written and executive produced by Sheldon Turner (Up In The Air, X-Men: First Class).

While Bay might have to replace shooting flames with spraying blood for this particular project, it otherwise sounds right up his alley. (Or it might be a perfect fit for Deadpool & Wolverine director Shawn Levy, if the whole Bay thing doesn’t work out.)

“Owen the Barbarian has been cursed to do good with what remains of his life. His bloodthirsty weapon, Axe, has become his moral compass with a drinking problem. Together they wander the realm, foredoomed to help any who seek assistance. But there is one thing Owen hates more than a life with rules: Witches,” an official synopsis of volume 1 from Vault Comics’ site reads. “Welcome to the skull-cracking, blood-splattering, mayhem-loving comic brave enough to ask: How can a man sworn to do good do so much violence? Hah! F***ing with you. It’s just…BARBARIC.”

Yes, that does mean Patrick Stewart is playing a talking axe. Claflin will use his ample charms—and an awesome wig, if the comic’s cover is anything to go by—to play Owen the Barbarian, a character we have a feeling we’ll be rooting for no matter how many witch heads he chops. Netflix has not laid out any sort of production timeline as of this writing.