Deadline has confirmed that Falcon and the Winter Soldier star Anthony Mackie will lead the live-action television adaptation of the PlayStation video game, Twisted Metal. The series will be produced by Sony TV and PlayStation Productions.
Twisted Metal is a high-octane comedy based on an original game by Deadpool writers Rhett Reese (Zombieland) and Paul Wernick (Deadpool) about an outsider who is offered a chance at a better life, but only if he can successfully deliver a mysterious package in a post-apocalyptic world. With a petty car thief by his side, he will face savage raiders driving vehicles of destruction on the open road, including a deranged clown who drives an ice cream truck.
Mackie is set to lead as John Doe in the half-hour action series. Sources to Deadline say that the series is a top priority at the studios and plan on pitching the series to buyers soon.
“We’re thrilled to have Anthony Mackie on board. His ability to blend comedy, action and drama is perfect for the Twisted world we’re creating,” PlayStation Productions head Asad Qizilbash told Deadline.
According to Deadline, Doe is a “smart-ass milkman who talks as fast as he drives.” With no memory of his past, he gets a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to make his wish of finding community fulfilled, but only if he can survive “an onslaught of savage vehicular combat”.
Michael Jonathon Smith (Cobra Kai) will write and executive produce the series with Reese and Wernick also attached as executive producers. Will Arnett (Arrested Development) and Marc Forman (Game Chat) will also be executive producers on the series, as well as Mackie, his manager Jason Spire, Qizilbash, Carter Swan (The Last of Us), and Hermen Hulst of PlayStation Productions.
Mackie will be coming off from reprising his role as Sam Wilson/The Falcon in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier and will suit up again in the upcoming Captain America 4.
A release date has not been announced for Twisted Metal.