As reported by Variety, Lucifer star Tom Ellis is set as a series regular for Hulu’s upcoming limited series Washington Black. The series, which is based on Esi Edugyan’s best-selling novel of the same name, follows the adventures of George Washington “Wash” Black, an 11-year-old boy on a 19th century Barbados sugar plantation. After a shocking death threatens to upend his life, he flees the plantation and travels the world, finding adventure and a fraught love along the way.

Ellis will star as Christopher “Titch” Wilde, who is described as a youthful eccentric steampunk inventor, though his enthusiasm masks an inner vulnerability. After a disturbing death at his family’s sugar plantation, Titch is catapulted on a journey across the sky with Wash at his side. Though ill-prepared, Titch finds himself in the father figure and mentor position while chasing the shadow of his own father, an inevitable reckoning that threatens to doom him and Wash both.

Ellis will co-star alongside Sterling K. Brown, who was cast as Medwin Harris. After a traumatic childhood as a Black refugee in Nova Scotia, Harris traveled the world. As the de facto Mayor of Black Halifax, Harris prioritizes the community over everything except for his young protégé Washington Black. Brown is also set to executive produce the series.

Washington Black is further described as “the tale of a singular young man: pirate ship-stowaway-turned-initiate; rugged explorer of uncharted territory; a survivor of the tundra, the desert, and the high seas; an engineer; an inventor; and an artist.” As Wash traverses the globe — from searing Barbados heat to Arctic ice — he finds an unexpected and fraught love along the way. He also meets many an enigmatic figure in his travels and realizes that he alone is the engine of his hero’s journey.

Ernest Kingsley Junior has been cast as Washington Black along with Iola Evans as Tanna Goff, Sharon Duncan-Brewster as Miss Angie, Edward Bluemel as William “Billy” McGee, and Eddie Karanja as Young Washington Black. Selwyn Seyfu Hinds is adapting the story and will also serve as showrunner and exec-produce alongside Brown, series writer Jennifer Johnson, directors Wanuri Kahiu and Mo Marable.

via Collider