Jon Favreau (Iron Man) will get a throne of his own as director of Shannara, a fantasy series based on the Terry Brooks novels. In a surprise move, MTV gave a script-to-series commitment on the property, which will be adapted for the small screen by Alfred Gough and Miles Millar of Smallville fame. If the network likes what they see, they’ll greenlight it straight to series. Set in our world but occurring thousands of years after our civilization has been all but wiped out, Shannara follows the title family, who are gifted with ancient magic. Hit the jump for more.

Deadline reports that Shannara is headed to MTV with Favreau directing. Network president Susanne Daniels previously developed and aired Smallville while she was Entertainment President at WB. This project will reunite her with the juvenile superhero show’s writers. As Daniels said:

“I am thrilled to be working with the Smallville creators Al and Miles again along with the amazingly talented Jon Favreau. We feel that the Shannara novels are a perfect fit for MTV as this type of fantasy genre has continuously proved to resonate with our audience.”

Here’s the synopsis for the second book in Brooks’ series, The Elfstones of Shannara, which the TV show is reportedly based on (via Amazon):