Starlings, Atalaya prep Stan Lee drama

Stan Lee (photo: Gage Skidmore)

US-based Starlings Television and Atalaya Productions are moving ahead with the development of Restless, a new supernatural drama series from Spiderman and X-Men co-creator Stan Lee.

Chris Philip

Restless centres on a Native American homicide detective who inherits mystical powers from his shaman ancestors and partners with the psychic descendent of a druid princess from Interpol to catch criminals and fight supernatural foes.

The series will be written by David Greenwalt (Grimm, Angel, Buffy the Vampire Slayer) and James Dalessandro (1906), with Greenwalt serving as showrunner. Lee’s POW! Entertainment is also onboard the project.

The series will be exec produced by Starlings Television president Chris Philip, POW! president Gill Champion, Giovanni Orlando, Larry Jacobson and Karine Martin. Oscar winner Wes Studi (The Last of the Mohicans) is attached to play the protagonist’s grandfather and co-executive produce.

“Restless is one of Stan Lee’s most unique and compelling creations that highlights the Native American cultures’ long journey of spiritual awareness amidst the presence of good and evil,” said Philip. “We have a great team around this project that will deliver tremendous quality which would make Stan proud.”

Champion added: “Restless is one of the projects Stan was determined to see made into a series and the foundation of a new superhero franchise. This story continues propelling his legacy and his deep-rooted desire to bring diversity to the forefront.”

Philip was appointed as president of Starlings Television last month, having previously worked at Televisa, Power Television, Engine Entertainment and PolyGram Filmed Entertainment.

Starlings Television has recently completed two scripted series: Pandora, which premiered on The CW this week, and Departure, airing on Global TV in Canada. The company is also currently working with US prodco Propagate on a slate of scripted dramas and has a deal in place with Sony Pictures TV for distribution.

After a long stint at Marvel Comics and an opus that includes Spiderman, Ironman, The Fantastic Four, Thor and The X-Men, Lee died in 2018. Starlings Television is part of movie producer Starlings Entertainment, one of the companies behind Elton John biopic Rocketman.