One of the first superheroes ever created is coming to the small screen. Debuting 90 years ago, before icons like Superman, Batman, and Captain America, this character still prowls the comics pages. And now, King Features Syndicate is planning to bring the Ghost Who Walks to life once more.

According to reports, the Phantom, the star of an eponymous comic strip that’s been running since 1936, is getting his own TV series. Reginald Hudlin will direct and produce: Hudlin has directed movies like House Party, Boomerang, Serving Sara, and Candy Cane Lane, and also served as a producer on Django Unchained. He has experience with costumed characters, as well: he wrote a lengthy run of Black Panther comics for Marvel, and helped relaunch DC Comics‘ Milestone imprint. He’s partnering with King Features Syndicate, the division of Hearst Publishing that owns their legacy characters, to bring the character into a new action-adventure TV series.

Who Is the Phantom?

Created by the late Lee Falk in 1936, the Phantom is the costumed identity of a centuries-old lineage of defenders of the fictional African country Bangalla. Known as the Ghost Who Walks, the current Phantom is Kit Walker; like his predecessors, he has no actual super powers, but relies on his athleticism, his wits, and his two trusty pistols. He also wears a ring that leaves the indelible mark of a skull on his enemies, which has become his trademark. The Phantom introduced many features that have become trademarks of superheroes, including a skintight costume and white, pupil-less eyes. The character has been adapted for the screen before, most famously in 1996’s The Phantom. That film starred Billy Zane as the Phantom; set in 1936, it pitted the Phantom against sinister tycoon Xander Drax (Treat Williams) and femme fatale Sala (Catherine Zeta-Jones). He was also featured in the animated series Defenders of the Earth (which teamed him with fellow King Features heroes Flash Gordon, Mandrake the Magician, and Lothar) and the futuristic Phantom 2040.

Once one of the most popular comics strips on Earth, the Phantom is still an extremely popular character internationally, especially in Australia and Scandinavia. Writer Alex Segura has recently revived Phantom 2040 as a dystopian web comic, and new Phantom comics are being published by Mad Cave Studios.

A TV series based on The Phantom is in development.

via Collider