Netflix has decided there can never be enough swords, swearing, and morally compromised antiheroes on our screens, so naturally it’s charging headlong into Barbaric, the gloriously unhinged fantasy comic from Vault Comics that asks one very important question: what if your conscience was a bloodthirsty, talking axe?

The streamer’s latest genre gamble adapts the cult comic created by Michael Moreci and Nathan Gooden. The story follows Owen, a ruthless and crass barbarian cursed to only commit acts of violence in the service of good. Which sounds noble, if not for the fact he’d clearly rather be decapitating people recreationally. His only companions? A demonic axe with a boatload of personality and a drinking problem, and a young witch acting as his guide.

Netflix officially confirmed the project during its Upfront presentation, moving the adaptation from development to greenlight. The show is described only as a journey of self-discovery, redemption, and revenge. Academy Award nominee Sheldon Turner (Up In The Air, X-Men First Class) will act as series creator, co-showrunner and writer on the series. Robert Rovner, best known for his work on CW series Supergirl, will also co-showrun.

Sam Claflin is set to play Owen, while Patrick Stewart lends his voice to the axe itself (a casting choice so absurdly perfect it feels too good to be true). Meanwhile and appropriately, Michael Bay is set to direct the project.

Netflix adaptations still occupy a strange place in genre fandom. For every genuinely good, daring, inspired oddity (that gets cancelled after one season, of course), there’s another algorithmically engineered “content event” that’ll vanish without a trace after two weeks sat on the homepage. We’ll see where Barbaric lands on that spectrum.