Erin Moriarty cast in The Boys as superhero Starlight

Deadline brings word of the first cast member for Amazon’s upcoming adaptation of the comic book series The Boys with the casting of Erin Moriarty as Annie January, aka the superhero Starlight.

In the series, Starlight is a hopeful and optimistic young hero that gets called up to the “big leagues” and joins The Seven (an R-rated parody of DC Comics’ Justice League team) whom she idolizes, until she finds out that they’re all deranged and have only hired her to humiliate her for their own amusement. Her powers include flight, super hearing, and the ability to unleash a blinding light.

Moriarty is no stranger to comic book adaptations having previously appeared in Marvel’s Jessica Jones. Her other credits include Kings of Summer, True Detective, and Red Widow.

The Boys will be co-produced by Sony Pictures Television Studios and created and written by showrunner Eric Kripke (Supernatural), and directed by Evan Goldberg and Seth Rogen. The series will be executive produced by Kripke, Goldberg, Rogen, Original Film’s Neal H. Moritz (Prison Break), Ori Marmur (Preacher) and Pavun Shetty (New Girl), as well as Point Grey Pictures’ James Weaver (Preacher). Comic series writer Garth Ennis and co-creator/illustrator Darick Robertson are also slated to co-executive produce.

The original comic series ran from 2006 to 2012 and focused on The Boys, a covert group that closely monitored the behavior and habits of superheroes and who stepped on their throats when they step out of line. It featured a number of direct parodies of countless superheroes and teams including its own twisted versions of The Justice League, The Avengers, Teen Titans, The Fantastic Four, X-Men, and The New Mutants; in addition to characters directly riffing on the likes of Superman, Wonder Woman, The Flash, Batman, Iron Man, Thor, and countless others.

The Boys will premiere in 2019 on Amazon with an eight episode first season.

(Photo Credit: Getty Images)