Spider-Man star Jacob Batalon has been cast in Syfy's Reginald the Vampire, a dramedy based on Johnny B. Truant's Fat Vampire book series.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Batalon, who plays Peter Parker's sidekick Ned Leeds in Spider-Man: Homecoming and its sequels, is making the move to television to sink his teeth into Syfy's newly announced vampire series, Reginald the Vampire, which has picked up a straight to series 10-episode order.
The series will follow "Reginald Baskin (Batalon) who tumbles headlong into a world populated by beautiful, fit and vain vampires" and must "navigate every kind of obstacle — the girl he loves but can't be with, a bully manager at work and the vampire chieftain who wants him dead," though fortunately, he discovers he has "a few unrecognized powers of his own."
Reginald the Vampire is being penned by Harley Peyton (Twin Peaks, Chucky), who will also executive produce and serve as showrunner. Jeremiah Chechik will step behind the camera to direct the series while also executive producing alongside Todd Berger and Lindsay Macadam. Julie DiCresce will co-executive produce.
The first book in Truant's Fat Vampire series was published in 2012 and it spawned five follow-up sequels: Tastes Like Chicken, All You Can Eat, Harder Better Fatter Stronger, Fatpocalypse, and Survival of the Fattest. Truant also authored a three-book spinoff series, but this is the first time his work is being adapted for the small screen.
Other projects coming up at Syfy include Don Mancini's Chucky series, which will share continuity with the film series, plus a 10-episode Day of the Dead series, a Bring It On Halloween spinoff, and a modern retelling of Slumber Party Massacre — a series that not only inspired at least one spin-off franchise but also dozens of other "massacre" knock-offs.
Batalon will next be seen reprising his role as Ned in Spider-Man: No Way Home, due out on December 17. The movie is expected to include some multiverse elements and may even converge the Tobey Maguire, Andrew Garfield, and Tom Holland universes together in such a way that it potentially allows Holland to make appearances in both the MCU and the SPUMC.
Adele Ankers is a freelance writer for IGN. Follow her on Twitter.