CBS’ next summer sci-fi series has found its star: EW has learned Mary Elizabeth Winstead has signed on to lead the upcoming comic-thriller BrainDead, about brain-eating aliens invading the political corridors of Washington, D.C.

Winstead has plenty of big-screen genre titles under her belt, such as Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, The Thing and Death Proof, plus she was in A&E’s version of The Returned.

Winstead will portray Laurel on the new show, “the daughter of a Democratic political dynasty who left Washington, D.C. to become a documentary filmmaker, but is pulled back into the family business when her brother, the senate majority whip, needs her help running his senate office. Now a young, fresh-faced Hill staffer, Laurel discovers two things: The government has stopped working, and alien spawn have come to Earth and eaten the brains of a growing number of congressmen and Hill staffers.”

The series is from Robert and Michelle King, creators and executive producers of The Good Wife. “We’ve been fans of Mary going back to Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, but it was really her extraordinary work in Smashed and Alex of Venice that had us imagining Laurel’s lines coming out of her mouth,” said the Kings in a statement, making reference to two recent indie films that featured Winstead in a leading role. “She’s fantastic at mixing comedy and drama, and keeping it all vulnerable, yet real. We can’t wait to see what she does with Laurel.”

BrainDead premieres summer 2016, and fills a slot in CBS’ recent-year summer scripted genre show effort — like Zoo, Extant and the recently canceled Under the Dome.

WANT MORE EW? Subscribe now to keep up with the latest in movies, television and music.