Lucky Man will feature a detective who can control luck in first UK television drama by comic book legend behind Iron Man, Spider-Man and the X-Men

This article is more than 5 years old

This article is more than 5 years old

Stan Lee, the comic book legend behind Iron Man, Spider-Man and the X-Men, will create a “different kind of superhero” in a new TV series starring James Nesbitt as a detective who can control luck.



Lucky Man, a 10-part series for Sky1, will be made by the production company behind ITV’s Downton Abbey.

It will be the first UK television drama from Lee, who is now 92 and has been a familiar name to comic book fans for seven decades.

Lee said: “Luck has always been a fascinating subject to me, and I am excited to finally share that fascination with audiences around the world. With all the creative projects I have worked on, I sure am a lucky man myself.”

Nesbitt, the former Cold Feet star recently acclaimed for his role in BBC1 thriller, The Missing, will star as London murder detective Harry Clayton who is given a charm by a mysterious woman that enables him to make his own luck.

The ancient bracelet signals a change in fortunes for Clayton, whose wife and child have left him and has run up a huge debt to an underworld crime boss who is threatening to kill him.

Lucky Man, which will air on Sky1 next year, will co-star Eve Best, who appeared in BBC2’s award-winning The Honourable Woman last year, Sienna Guillory (Luther, Fortitude) and Amara Karan, who starred in Wes Anderson’s film, The Darjeeling Limited.

It will also feature Omid Djalili, Darren Boyd, Jing Lusi and Kenneth Tsang.

Executive producer Richard Fell said: “Lucky Man is a different kind of superhero show – Stan has come up with an absolutely brilliant idea; something that we can all relate to.

“What if you could control luck? Would that be the greatest thing you could give someone, or their worst nightmare? It’s a twist which brings the whole superhero genre right back down to earth.”

It is the latest in a burgeoning stable of TV superhero shows, that has grown to include Batman prequel Gotham, Avengers Assemble spin-off Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and Captain America sibling Agent Carter starring British actor, Hayley Atwell.

The TV version of Marvel’s Daredevil will launch on Netflix on 10 April, one of a host of new Marvel superhero shows on the video-on-demand service, with a Supergirl pilot in the pipeline at US network CBS.

Sky1 director Adam MacDonald described Lucky Man as “mysterious, thrilling, energetic … a visually striking crime thriller”.

Sky has looked to up its game in homegrown drama in recent years to match the best of its US imports, such as HBO’s Game of Thrones, which returns next month. Sky’s £25m Arctic Circle murder mystery Fortitude, which comes to an end next week, was the broadcaster’s biggest homegrown drama to date.

Lucky Man will be made by Downton Abbey producer Carnival Films, owned by NBC Universal, in collaboration with Lee’s POW! Entertainment.