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Karl Urban is returning to the small screen.

The Star Trek and Lord of the Rings actor has landed the starring role in Amazon Studios' straight-to-series superhero drama The Boys.

The Boys takes places in a world where superheroes embrace the darker side of their massive celebrity and fame, and centers on a group of vigilantes known informally as "the boys" who set out to take down corrupt superheroes with no more than blue-collar grit and a willingness to fight dirty.

Urban, whose last series regular role was in Fox's short-lived sci-fi drama Almost Human, will play Billy Butcher, who is described as mysterious and brutal with a personal but secret agenda. He approaches Hughie (Jack Quaid), claiming to be a shadowy government operative. Butcher capitalizes on Hughie's rage over his girlfriend Robin’s (uncast) accidental death at the hands of Superhero A-Train (Jessie T. Usher) and enlists Hughie as part of his plan to bring down the superhero system. Karen Fukuhara, Erin Moriarty, Antony Starr, Dominique McElligott, Chace Crawford and Nathan Mitchell co-star.

Supernatural creator Eric Kripke will serve as creator and showrunner on The Boys, which will be directed by Seth Rogen and his longtime producing partner Evan Goldberg. The trio will exec produce with Original Film's Neal H. Moritz (Prison Break), Ori Marmur (Preacher), Pavun Shetty (New Girl) and James Weaver of Rogen and Goldberg's Point Grey Pictures. Comic author Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson are on board as co-executive producers. The Boys marks a reunion for the Preacher team of Rogen, Goldberg, Moritz and Ennis. Sony Pictures Television Studios, also home to Rogen's AMC comic book adaptation Preacher and his Hulu comedy Future Man, will co-produce with Amazon.

Urban's credits include playing Dr. Leonard "Bones" McCoy in Star Trek and Star Trek Into Darkness as well as Eomer in the second and third Lord of the Rings features. He most recently was seen in Star Trek Beyond and Pete's Dragon. He's repped by UTA.

A premiere date for The Boys has yet to be determined.

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Written by Eric Kripke based on the comic book by Garth Ennis (Preacher) & Darick Robertson and directed by Goldberg & Rogen, The Boys is set in a world where superheroes embrace the darker side of their massive celebrity and fame. It revolves around a group of vigilantes known informally as “the boys,” who set out to take down corrupt superheroes with no more than blue-collar grit and a willingness to fight dirty.

Shue will play Madelyn Stillwell. Corporate and formidable Madelyn is the Vice President of Hero Management for Vought, in charge of the public persona as well as the assignments of the Superheroes. Madelyn is a tough negotiator who rides roughshod over public relations dilemmas, such as when Superhero A-Train accidentally kills an innocent bystander and damage control needs to be done at any price, or when a city Mayor requests a Superhero for his own beleaguered town.

Kripke, Goldberg and Rogen executive produce with Original Film’s Neal Moritz, Pavun Shetty and Ori Marmur.

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