We know Idris Elba as many things: A rough detective with personal demons, an Asgardian warrior, a canceler of apocalypses. The actor and musician also happens to be a producer of growing stature, though, and the next project he's developing could earn him even more love from genre fans.

Variety reports that Elba has optioned Marc Olden's novel Poe Must Die and plans to adapt it into a trilogy of films. The novel stars the legendary writer of the macabre, who's drunk and in mourning for his wife until he gets a letter from Charles Dickens by way of a bare-knuckle boxer named Pierce James Figg. Figg is on the trail of a powerful psychic and sorcerer, and he needs Poe's help to stop him because, if this evil man gets his hands on the legendary Throne of Solomon and the magical knowledge it supposedly contains, hell will literally break loose on Earth. Now, that's a dark historical fantasy that has us instantly intrigued.

It's not clear yet how soon we might see any results from this development, or whether Elba is interested in being more than a producer for the project, but Poe Must Die sounds like a demonic epic that could put Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter to shame in the right hands. We'll let you know what Elba makes of it.

(Via Variety)