Stan Lee and 'Downton Abbey' Producer Team on New U.K. Series, 'Lucky Man'

Still going strong! Lee is a 'Lucky Man'

Legendary comic book master, Stan Lee is excited to be heading over the Pond for a go at some U.K. TV. The pay TV channel, Sky 1 made an announcement yesterday that Lee has teamed with Downton Abbey producer, Carnival Films. They will be bringing to fruition Lee's original idea with the ten-part series, Lucky Man.

The series will debut in 2016 on Sky 1 and, according to Variety, "...will be distributed globally by NBCUniversal International Distribution." Lucky Man will star James Nesbitt ("The Hobbit" trilogy, "The Missing"), Eve Best ("Nurse Jackie," "The Honorable Woman") and Sienna Guillory ("Fortitude," "Luther," "Love Actually").

Variety offers the series description as, "...the story of detective Harry Clayton (James Nesbitt), a cop from Central London’s notorious Murder Squad, who is given a charm that seems to confer upon the wearer the ability to control luck. Harry is down on his luck: his wife (Eve Best) and child have left him due to his gambling habit, his boss thinks he’s in league with the devil, and he has a huge debt to an infamous underworld crime boss who is threatening his life. A chance meeting with a mysterious woman who gives him an ancient bracelet changes everything… It appears to give Harry control over luck itself."

Sounds pretty cool, right? Lee was quoted as saying, “Luck has always been a fascinating subject to me, and I am excited to finally share that fascination with audiences around the world.” The very lucky indeed 92-year-old goes on to mention, "With all the creative projects I have worked on, I sure am a lucky man myself and I am excited to be working with Sky 1 and Carnival Films on this latest project."

Executive producer Richard Fell further describes the series, “‘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.”

We'll keep you posted on when we can watch here in the States.

-Larissa Mrykalo

John Wesley Shipp to Play Henry Allen in 'The Flash'

Courtesy THR

Back in February, we teased that John Wesley Shipp was cast in a mystery role in The CW's "The Flash" series and now we know what role he'll be playing. Executive producer of the "Arrow" spin-off, Greg Berlanti, revealed to The Hollywood Reporter that Shipp, who played Barry Allen in CBS's 1990s "Flash" series, will be playing the role of The Flash's (Grant Gustin) father, Henry Allen.

Henry Allen will appear in the premiere and will be recurring. Shipp's stint in the 1990-91 series was short-lived but Berlanti commented on the casting that, "Given his history with The Flash, Andrew [Kreisberg], Geoff [Johns] and I could only think of one person we wanted to play Barry's father and that was John Wesley Shipp. He gives a fantastic and emotional performance in the pilot and we are looking forward to his presence in many more episodes."

In addition to Shipp appearing in the premiere, Arrow himself, Stephen Amell, will make a cameo. The new superhero series "centers on Central City assistant police forensic investigator Barry Allen (Gustin) who visits Starling City to look into a series of unexplained robberies that may have a connection to a tragedy in his past. Through a freak accident, he is given the power of super speed that transforms him into the fastest man alive."

The show will air on The CW at 8 p.m. ET, Tuesdays this fall.

Here's that magnificent five-minute extended trailer that debuted two weeks ago...



-Larissa Mrykalo