Damon Lindelof’s “Watchmen” pilot at HBO has set a number of actors in key roles, Variety has learned.

Regina King, Don Johnson, Tim Blake Nelson, Louis Gossett Jr., Adelaide Clemens, and Andrew Howard will all appear in the series, with King in the lead role. King previously appeared on “The Leftovers,” the HBO drama series co-created by Lindelof and Tom Perrotta, based on Perrotta’s novel of the same name.

The exact details of their characters are being kept under wraps. Lindelof on Tuesday posted a letter to fans in which he laid out his vision for the series, which he said will not be a re-telling of the story from the original graphic novel, but rather a new story in the same world with new characters set in the present day.

“Some of the characters will be unknown,” he said. “New faces. New masks to cover them. We also intend to revisit the past century of Costumed Adventuring through a surprising yet familiar set of eyes…and it is here we will be taking our greatest risks.”

Irons will play the ageing and imperious lord of a British manor, marking his second TV series regular role following three seasons of Showtime’s “The Borgias”.

Here’s some news worth losing your head over: Sleepy Hollow‘s Tom Mison is poised to return to the small screen via a starring role in HBO’s Damon Lindelof-EP’d Watchmen pilot, TVLine has learned.

Additionally, Frances Fisher (Titanic) and Jacob Ming-Trent (White Famous) have boarded the project. HBO confirmed the trio’s casting, but declined to provide character descriptions. The impressive ensemble already includes Jeremy Irons, Regina King (who worked with Lindelof on The Leftovers), Don Johnson, Louis Gossett Jr., Tim Blake Nelson, Adelaide Clemens and Andrew Howard.

The potential series — which isn’t a strictly faithful adaptation of the classic Alan Moore comic series, but an original story inspired by it — takes place in a world where superheroes are considered outlaws. Lindelof is writing the pilot and will serve as an executive producer alongside Nicole Kassell, Tom Spezialy and Joseph Iberti.

Mison starred as Ichabod Crane on Fox’s Sleepy Hollow, which ended its four-season run in March 2017.

HBO has handed a series order to Watchmen, Damon Lindelof’s take on Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons’ iconic limited comic series, for a 2019 premiere. The project boasts an A-list cast led by Jeremy Irons, Regina King, Don Johnson, Tim Blake Nelson and Louis Gossett Jr.

Set in an alternate history where “superheroes” are treated as outlaws, Watchmen embraces the nostalgia of the original groundbreaking graphic novel while attempting to break new ground of its own. As Lindelof noted in a letter to fans, the series is not an adaptation of the 12 issues of the comic but an original story that remixes them.

HBO programming president Casey Bloys hinted at a likely series pickup for the Watchmen pilot, written by Lindelof and directed by Nicole Kassell, at TCA last month.

“I have very, very high hopes,” Bloys said of the pilot then. “They did a great job. Damon wrote a phenomenal script, and Nikki Kassell did an amazing job shooting the show.”

Bloys indicated at the time that, if the pilot is picked up to series, the network is hoping to go into production as soon as possible.

Watchmen‘s cast also includes Adelaide Clemens, Andrew Howard, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Tom Mison, Frances Fisher, Jacob Ming-Trent, Sara Vickers, Dylan Schombing, Lily Rose Smith and Adelynn Spoon.

Lindelof executive produces with Kassell and Tom Spezialy. Stephen Williams directs and executive produces. Watchmen is produced for HBO by White Rabbit in association with Warner Bros Television.

Watchmen marks Lindelof’s second consecutive series on HBO, a followup to The Leftovers, which wrapped its three-season run in 2017.

Moore and Gibbons’ comic series, was previously adapted into a Watchmen feature film in 2009 by Zack Snyder, who is not involved in the TV series.

HBO’s Watchmen has been officially ordered to series, but that doesn’t mean there’s a lot of information out there about this mysterious project. This show, like justice, has gone hooded – its identity remains a well-kept secret.

However, a few new details have come to light. We knew that Oscar-winner Jeremy Irons had joined the cast, but /Film has learned that he is playing none other than the older version of Adrian Veidt, aka Ozymandias, a key character from the original Watchmen comic series. In addition, we can exclusively report that Legion and Fargo star Jean Smart has joined the cast of the show as a mysterious FBI agent.