Benjamin Bratt enters the DMZ for Ava DuVernay’s comic book adaptation

Last Updated on July 30, 2021

Word has come down the wire via Deadline that Benjamin Bratt (LAW & ORDER, PRIVATE PRACTICE) has been cast as a series regular opposite Rosario Dawson in the pilot episode of DMZ from Warner Bros. Television for HBO Max.

Below you'll find a synopsis for the first volume of the DC/Verito Comic series:

In the near future, America's worst nightmare has come true. With military adventurism overseas bogging down the Army and National Guard, the U.S. government mistakenly neglects the very real threat of anti-establishment militias scattered across the 50 states. Like a sleeping giant, Middle America rises up and violently pushes its way to the shining seas, coming to a standstill at the line in the sand – Manhattan. Or, as the world now knows it, the DMZ. Matty Roth, a naive aspiring photojournalist, lands a dream job following a veteran war correspondent into the heart of he DMZ. Things soon go terribly wrong, and Matty finds himself lost and alone in a world he’s only seen on television.There, he is faced with a choice: try and find a way off the island, or make his career with an assignment most journalists would kill for. But can he survive in this savage war zone long enough to report the truth?

For the series, Bratt will step into the role of Parco Delgado, the popular — and deadly — leader of one of the most powerful gangs in the DMZ. He wants to rule the DMZ — and will stop at nothing to secure that outcome. Parco is known as a wildly magnetic, affable, and equally influential man.

At the helm of DMZ is A WRINKLE IN TIME and WHEN THEY SEE US director Ava DuVernay, who will also executive produce the series. Joining DuVernay as an executive producer on the series is showrunner Roberto Patino, who will also pen the scripts for each episode. The pilot is being produced by ARRAY Filmworks in association with WBTV.

In addition to her DMZ role, DuVernay is also poised to direct THE NEW GODS for Warners, which she will also co-write with former Batman and Mister Miracle comic writer Tom King. If you're unfamiliar with The New Gods, perhaps this description from DC Wikia can help sort you out: The beings of New Genesis and Apokolips call themselves Gods and live outside of normal time and space in a realm called the Fourth World. These New Gods have evolved due to their close proximity to the Source, a primeval energy, believed to be one of the ultimate foundations of the Universal Expression of Energy, along with their superior technology, into beings of genetic stability and evolutionary perfection. The denizens of New Genesis are stronger, faster, and smarter than homo sapiens, despite their resemblance to the same. This is not true of Apokolips however where many of the beings are inferior and only a few are physically more powerful than humans.

We'll be sure to bring you more news related to DMZ as the show develops.