Anthony Mackie will play the lead role in Sony’s Twisted Metal TV series

Avengers star Anthony Mackie will play the lead role in Sony’s Twisted Metal TV series.

Mackie, who’s also set to lead the upcoming Captain America 4 movie, will star as John Doe in Twisted Metal, Deadline reports.

“We’re thrilled to have Anthony Mackie on board,” said Asad Qizilbash, head of PlayStation Productions. “His ability to blend comedy, action and drama is perfect for the Twisted world we’re creating.”

The live-action adaptation of PlayStation’s vehicular combat series will be an action comedy penned by Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick, the writers of the Deadpool films and Zombieland.

It will focus on an outsider tasked with delivering a mysterious package across a post-apocalyptic wasteland roamed by bandits in deadly vehicles, including the series’ trademark character, Sweet Tooth, a psychotic clown who drives a modified ice cream truck.

“We’ve been big fans of Anthony’s phenomenal body of work over the years and knew he was the only actor who could play a character as complex, funny and compelling as John Doe,” said Glenn Adilman, EVP of comedy development at Sony TV.

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A new Twisted Metal is in development ‘to coincide with the TV series’, it’s claimed

Journalist claims a new series entry is in the works, corroborating VGC's own sources

Twisted Metal debuted on the original PlayStation in 1995, with the most recent series entry released for PS3 in 2012. It was recently claimed that Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE) is planning to release a new Twisted Metal game to coincide with the upcoming TV adaptation.

Commenting last month on the possibility of a series revival, Twisted Metal’s former game director David Jaffe said he’d be “very, very hurt” if it was happening as Sony had not reached out to him about it.

Twisted Metal is the second confirmed TV series from PlayStation Productions, a studio formed by SIE to adapt its original game properties for film and TV.

The first TV series revealed to be in development was HBO’s The Last of Us, which will star Game of Thrones actors Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey as Joel and Ellie.

Sony is reportedly developing three movies and seven TV shows based on PlayStation games, including an Uncharted film starring Tom Holland, which is set for release in February 2022.