FX Networks has begun formal script development on the long-rumored Mayans spinoff series from Kurt Sutter’s hit biker drama Sons of Anarchy. The offshoot, titled Mayans MC, will be co-created by Sutter and Elgin James (Little Birds), with James writing the pilot script and both producing. SOA studios Fox 21 Television Studios and FX Productions are back for Mayans MC.

In the spirit of Sons of Anarchy, Mayans MC will be a dark, visceral family drama that takes a new look at the most American of icons, the 1% outlaw, this time reflected through a Latino lens, per FX.

“I wanted to find a strong, unique Latino voice,” New Jersey-born Sutter said. “Because I didn’t think a white guy from Jersey should be writing about Latin culture and traditions. Elgin is that voice.”

The Mayans were pivotal recurring players in Sons of Anarchy. The blockbuster original series ran for seven seasons and was the highest-rated drama series in FX Networks’ history. Sutter followed up with the dark FX period drama The Bastard Executioner, which ran for one season, before segueing to Mayans MC.

James’ bio reads like the story of a SOA character. Homeless as a teenager, he was a fixture in Boston’s hardcore punk scene, helping found a multi-ethnic national street gang that targeted neo-Nazi skinheads and drug dealers. After spending a decade and a half in the gang, James left Boston for Los Angeles, where he entered the Sundance Institute Feature Film program. His directorial debut, Little Birds, starring Juno Temple and Leslie Mann, premiered in competition at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival. A few months later James began serving a prison sentence for a past gang-related charge of federal extortion. Little Birds was released in 2012 by Millennium Entertainment and the film won a National Board of Review award. On the film side, James is slated to direct A Million Little Pieces for John Wells and Plan B Entertainment and is developing a film on the troubled life of actress Jean Seberg for Electric City entertainment, adapted from the biography Breathless.

Sutter is repped by WME. James is repped by WME, Electric City and Gang, Tyre, Ramer & Brown.