She'll play the lead role in 'DMZ,' based on the comic book of the same title.

Rosario Dawson is headed to HBO Max, signing on to star in a pilot directed by Ava DuVernay.

Dawson (Jane the Virgin, USA's upcoming Briarpatch) will play the lead role in DMZ, based on the comic book of the same title. The potential series is set in a United States torn apart by a second civil war, leaving Manhattan a demilitarized zone — the DMZ of the title.

DMZ is based on the Vertigo comic by Brian Wood and Riccardo Burchielli. It's set in a near future where the island of Manhattan is a no-man's land separating the two sides in a bitter civil war.

Dawson will play Alma, a fierce medic who saves lives while desperately searching for her lost son. As she contends with the gangs, militias, demagogues and warlords who now control the lawless island, she becomes the unlikely source of what everyone there has lost: hope.

Roberto Patino (Westworld) is adapting the comic and will serve as showrunner on the pilot. DuVernay will direct and executive produce with Patino. The pilot comes from DuVernay's Array Filmworks and Warner Bros. TV, where the When They See Us and Queen Sugar multihyphenate has an overall deal.

Dawson will next be seen in Briarpatch, the first season of a planned anthology from Mr. Robot creator Sam Esmail and writer Andy Greenwald. Her recent credits also include Zombieland: Double Tap, Netflix's movie Someone Great and Netflix's Marvel series Luke Cage, Iron Fist and The Defenders.