Move over, Bakula! NBC's 'Quantum Leap' reboot has found its new time-traveling hero

Actor Raymond Lee will attempt to make the leap back home in NBC's highly-anticipated small screen reboot of Quantum Leap. According to Variety, the Prodigal Son and Kevin Can F**k Himself alum has officially been cast as the show's leading man, a respected physicist by the name of Dr. Ben Seong. Lee pretty much confirmed this by sharing the news on his Instagram page, writing "Oh boy..." in the caption. That'd probably be our reaction, too. 

Described as "a scientist and man of faith" by Variety, Song works on the secret time travel project that gives the show its badass name. The reboot, which was first announced in January of this year, sounds like it'll be more of a follow-up than a pure wiping of the slate. Based on the short logine provided by the network, the plot takes place three decades after "Dr. Sam Beckett stepped into the Quantum Leap accelerator and vanished. Now a new team has been assembled to restart the project in the hopes of understanding the mysteries behind the machine and the man who created it."

If the narrative ends up hewing closer to the original series (fronted by the dynamic duo of Scott Bakula and the late Dean Stockwell), then something will go awry, thrusting Song wildly through time. Jumping from body-to-body, he'll be forced to rectify historical mistakes, hoping that the next leap is the one that'll return him to his own time period.

With Stockwell sadly no longer with us, it might make the most sense to bring Bakula back to play Sam Beckett, albeit in the advisory hologram role once occupied by Stockwell's Al Calavicci. Now wouldn't that be cool?

"We are definitely living in the reboot era, as you're aware of," Bakula said in September while in conversation with the late Bob Saget. "I don't know what it would be; I don't know who would have it," Bakula admitted. "The rights were a mess for years — I don't even know if they're sorted out now. That's always been the biggest complication ... I don't know what that idea would be if we did [reboot the show]."

The reboot, which has the participation of creator Donald P. Bellisario (serving as an executive producer), hails from Steven Lilien and Bryan Wynbrandt, the co-creators of God Friended Me and current producers on La Brea. They will write the pilot and executive produce under their I Have an Idea! Entertainment production company. Deborah Pratt — who wrote, produced, and narrated for the original QL — is also an EP alongside Martin Gero (Blindspot).

"Don, for years, he and I talk about it periodically," Bakula continued during his conversation with Saget. "He would always say, 'I can't write it without thinking about you and Dean.' I said, 'Just think about me and Dean and write your show and get it out there. If you have an idea, just write it. I'm sure it'll be great.'"

NBC has yet to announce a premiere date for the reboot. In the meantime, click here for our list of four things we'd like to see out of it.

NBC & SYFY WIRE are both owned by NBCUniversal.