It looks like ex-Austinite and popular horror/fantasy director Guillermo del Toro is set to produce a film adaptation of the cult DC Comics fave Deadman for Warner Brothers.

Deadman is the story of a slain circus acrobat who is given the ability to possess the still-living so he can avenge his own death - only it turns out that while he’s possessing people, he has to help them out with their earthly problems (where are those royalty checks, Quantum Leap?). Though Deadman has never had a long-running comic series, the character is a nerd favorite, appearing in several DC Comics franchises and miniseries including Neil Gaiman’s Books of Magic.

del Toro has had some experience adapting comic books for film – in 2003 he directed the second installment of the Blade Trilogy (adapted from the Marvel Comics character and widely regarded as a kick-ass vampire series), and in 2004 he directed a popular big-screen version of the DC comics classic Hellboy.

del Toro is currently busy readying the release of his new film Pan’s Labyrinth, a fantasy story set in 1940s Spain. And though we can’t understand a single word they’re saying in the trailer, it looks really, really cool.

*Image (c) flickr user Mr. Babyman *