A year after the end of The Vampire Diaries, Ian Somerhalder is returning to the vampire drama genre. Netflix has given a 10-episode order to V-Wars, based on Jonathan Maberry’s bestselling book, from IDW Entertainment and High Park Entertainment. Somerhalder is attached to star and also direct the hourlong drama, which was developed as straight-to-series in 2014 as the initial project under IDW Entertainment and then-eOne TV’s first-look co-production deal.

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The book, published in 2012 by IDW Publishing, debuted as a collection of prose stories that chronicles the first Vampire War. In the series, Somerhalder will star as Dr. Luther Swann, who enters a world of untold horror when a mysterious disease transforms his best friend, Michael Fayne, into a murderous predator who feeds on other humans. As the disease spreads and more people are transformed, society fractures into opposing camps pitting normal people against the growing number of these “vampires.” Swann races against time to understand what’s happening, while Fayne rises to become the powerful underground leader of the vampires.

Brad Turner (Human Cargo, 24, Stargate and Stargate Atlantis) will direct the pilot episode and executive produce. William Laurin and Glenn Davis will serve as showrunners. Eric Birnberg and Thomas Walden will executive produce for High Park, with David Ozer and Ted Adams for IDW Entertainment and James Gibb for Marada Pictures. V-Wars is produced by High Park in association with IDW.

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“We could not have dreamed of a better choice than Ian Somerhalder to bring his keen understanding of this genre from his years of starring in The Vampire Diaries to lead the cast of V-Wars as Dr. Luther Swann and to be a creative force on this series, as well as to serve as a director this season,” said Ozer, President, IDW Entertainment. “We are thrilled to partner with Netflix to bring the multifaceted world that Jonathan Maberry created to audiences worldwide.”

Somerhalder is best known for his starring role as Damon Salvatore on the CW’s long-running series The Vampire Diaries, which ended last year after eight seasons. In addition to acting in the show, Somerhalder also took on the role as director in Season 7 and Season 8.

Currently Somerhalder and his wife, actress Nikki Reed have a pod deal with Warner Bros TV to produce new content for the network under their production company Rare Bird Productions. Somerhalder also appeared in an episode of the Emmy-winning climate change documentary series Years of Living Dangerously. He is repped by ICM Partners, Untitled Entertainment and Todd Rubenstein of Morris Yorn.

IDW Entertainment is the worldwide distributor for V-Wars, excluding Canada.