Deadline reports a new series produced by Hulu’s Onyx Collective was announced during the production studio’s panel at this week’s Sundance Film Festival. A drama series inspired by the rise and reign of Africa’s first queen, Sheba is being created by writer/producer Chantelle Wells and writer and actress, Azie Tesfai. Ryan Coogler’s Proximity Media is also executive producing.
According to Deadline, the hour-long series will pull from the magnificent history of the continent’s Queen of Sheba, also known as Makeda, who came to power uniting the land known today as Ethiopia. With accounts of her life detailed in both Islamic and Jewish teachings, Makeda is historically chronicled to have interacted with the Bible’s Solomon, testing his wisdom with an array of riddles, according to Britannica.com. In Arabic, the monarch was known as Bilqīs and was instrumental in many of the relations between ancient Israel and southern Arabia.
Joining Wells, Tesfai, and Coogler as executive producers are Zinzi Coogler (Locks, Space Jam: A New Legacy), Sev Ohanian (Searching, Run), and Kalia King. King currently serves as executive vice president for Proximity Media’s TV division.
Ryan Coogler is fresh off directing Marvel’s final film of Phase Four, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. The film was a resounding success and may score the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s first acting Oscar nomination with Angela Bassett’s (9-1-1, Damsel) role as Queen Ramonda.
Tesfai recently starred and wrote for The CW’s Supergirl portraying Kelly Olsen aka The Guardian, via Deadline. The role vaulted her as the first Ethiopian performer to play a comic superhero on screen. She is also working on a pilot for NBC entitled The Chase.
Wells comes to the table with writing and producing credits for another comic series: Disney+’s anticipated Echo, a spinoff of the Marvel series Hawkeye. Wells also wrote for the Emmy-nominated thriller series, Yellowjackets, which is readying a second season return in March at Showtime.
Stay tuned for updates on Sheba throughout the year as the series is still in early development.