When the press release for this particular news was read aloud in the office, every person audibly exclaimed some variation of “Whoa!” It was announced on Thursday that Grant Morrison, one of the great comic book writers of our modern age (Arkham Asylum; several stints on Batman, Superman, and X-Men; and a ton of other amazing titles) will be adapting Aldous Huxley‘s seminal science fiction novel Brave New World for Syfy, along with Crank‘s Brian Taylor. What an unfathomable amalgam of people and titles and things!

Brave New World, for those who are unaware, is widely considered one of the best and most important genre novels of all time. Written in 1931, Huxley’s novel took place 632 years into the future, where London has become a dystopian state under a benevolent dictatorship headed by ten World Controllers, natural reproduction has been outlawed in favor of creating children into predetermined castes, and critical thinking is strongly discouraged. Two workers in the system begin to see the inherent mistreatment of people and suppression of human thought, and begin to work to overthrow it. It’s a classic for a reason.

Morrison and Taylor will be co-writing and executive producing the series, as well as another new series, Happy, based on an Image Comics graphic novel by Morrison and artist Darick Robertson. It follows Nick Sax, a scuzzy, boozing ex-cop-turned-hitman who spends his life on casual murder and frivolous sexual encounters. After a hit goes wrong, Nick has a bullet in his side, both the cops and the mob on his trail, and a monstrous killer in a Santa Claus suit on the loose. Luckily (I guess), Nick also has an imaginary friend–a constantly upbeat tiny, blue, winged horse. This sounds completely insane, and perfect for television in this age of Preacher.

Both of these projects sound phenomenal, and I, for one, am beyond excited to see what Morrison does at the helm of television shows that seem perfect for his brand of twisted storytelling.

Let us know what you think about Brave New World and Happy! in the comments below!

Speaking of books heading to the big screen, here’s how The Dark Tower movie will differ from its source material:

Image: Chatto and Windus (London)/ art by Leslie Holland

Kyle Anderson is the Associate Editor for Nerdist and loves himself some sci and fi. Follow him on Twitter!