The Morningstar has abandoned Hell...and now he's fighting crime with the LAPD?
The Hollywood Reporter revealed today that Fox has handed out a pilot pickup for Lucifer, a proposed new television series based on the DC Comics/VERTIGO series by Mike Carey that ran for 75 issues and the Lucifer: Nirvana one-shot from 2000 to 2006.
According to the article, the drama centers on Lucifer Morningstar, "who is bored and unhappy as the Lord of Hell and resigns his throne and abandons his kingdom for the beauty of Los Angeles, where he gets his kicks helping the LAPD punish criminals."
Californication creator Tom Kapinos will provide the script and executive produce the proposed series under his Aggressive Mediocrity banner. Jerry Bruckheimer and Jerry Bruckheimer Television head Jonathan Littman will executive produce, while the company's KristieAnne Reed is set as a co-executive producer. Sleepy Hollow's Len Wiseman will executive produce and direct the pilot.
Lucifer joins CBS' Supergirl as the second DC Comics property to receive a pilot for the 2015-16 season, with Titans in development at TNT and Krypton in the works at Syfy. It will be the the sixth drama pilot filmed for Fox's new season.
Created in 1989 by Neil Gaiman and Sam Kieth, and based physically on David Bowie, Lucifer Morningstar first appeared in The Sandman #4 as the Lord of Hell for 10,000,000,000 years after rebelling for three seconds after Creation. Over that time, he manipulated the various demons of Hell against each other, provided a place for dead mortals to be tormented, and led the war against Heaven. He became tired of his reign over Hell, and deemed it an unfair punishment that he should have to rule Hell forever simply because he once rebelled.
In the Sandman story arc "Season of Mists", Lucifer expelled all demons and damned souls from Hell before locking Hell's gates and handing over the key to Hell to Dream of the Endless. Eventually, control of Hell was handed over to two angels, Duma (the angel of silence) and Remiel ("set over those who rise"), while Lucifer simply retired to Earth, initially to Perth, Western Australia and later to Los Angeles, California.
Later, in the solo spinoff series Lucifer, Lucifer ran a piano bar (an element introduced in the Sandman arc "The Kindly Ones") called "Lux" in Los Angeles, with the assistance of his female consort, Mazikeen, who is a Lilim, one of the races descended from Lilith. Lucifer is portrayed as a sophisticated and charming man, in addition to being the stereotypical gentleman devil.