Peacock's 'Twisted Metal' series adds Thomas Haden Church as post-apocalyptic highwayman

Thomas Haden Church is going from Sandman to highwayman. SYFY WIRE can confirm that the Spider-Man vet has officially been cast in Peacock's upcoming half-hour Twisted Metal series with Anthony Mackie (The Falcon and the Winter Soldier) and Stephanie Beatriz (Encanto).

Haden Church takes on the antagonistic role of Agent Stone, a cold and unyielding conservator of the post-apocalyptic roads, who punishes the smallest of crimes with the harshest of judgements. "Agent Stone will stop at nothing to bring law and order back to the Divided States of America, and will kill anyone in his path who defies his power," reads the official character synopsis.

Hailing from showrunner/writer/executive producer Michael Jonathan Smith (Cobra Kai), the video game adaptation centers around John Doe (Mackie), a motor-mouthed and amnesiac driver who delivers much-needed supplies to settlements across the wasteland. Yearning for a true sense of belonging, Doe teams up with a ferocious car thief named Quiet (Beatriz) for a dangerous odyssey filled with Mad Max-esque vehicular destruction and homicidal clowns.

Mackie also serves as an executive producer alongside Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick (the co-screenwriters of Zombieland and Deadpool); Will Arnett and Marc Forman (of Electric Avenue), who secured the rights to the source material in the first place; Jason Spire of Inspire Entertainment; Peter Principato of Artists First; Asad Qizilbash and Carter Swan of PlayStation Productions; Hermen Hulst of PlayStation Studios; and Kitao Sakurai (he's attached to direct multiple episodes as well). Sony Pictures Television, PlayStation Productions and Universal Television, a division of Universal Studio Group, are co-producers.

"If you remember the video game, it’s just us driving cars and blowing stuff up and trying to make it to New San Francisco … I’m excited!" Mackie exclaimed back in April. When asked about how he was preparing for the role of John Doe, the actor answered: "A lot of vegetables and chicken breast."

Speaking to GameSpot in 2011 about the Twisted Metal release for the PlayStation 3, co-creator David Jaffe described the beloved game as "a cross between Mortal Kombat and Street Fighter and Mario Kart Battle Mode [with] a little bit of Call of Duty thrown in ... A lot of people look at Twisted Metal and think it's just action. It is that on the surface, but we really look at this as a fighting game. It's strategy, it's depth, it's tactics ... it's a deep game if you can get your head around it."

Peacock has yet to announce a premiere date for Twisted Metal, which is now in production.