Many of you will recognize the name David Goyer as the man who co-wrote the Dark Knight trilogy and Man of Steel. And Call of Duty: Black Ops. He is also known as the man with excellent sleeve tattoos, and as one of the original showrunners of Flash Forward, but since I really liked that series, I don’t hold that against him.

Last weekend Mr. Goyer attended the New York Comic-Con panel for his upcoming Starz series Da Vinci’s Demons. During the panel he explained where the idea for the series came from and where it will be going, including explaining the parallels between the life of Da Vinci and the life of Batman, and how Assassin’s Creed influenced the show. Yes, we’re serious, and it the show looks pretty impressive.

We’ve decided to keep an eye on it here at SciFi Mafia because Mr. Goyer says that it skirts the edge of the supernatural, has a decent fantastical element, and because he said that Da Vinci reminds him of a Tony Stark prototype. Clearly, this Da Vinci is not the bearded older gentleman that we’re used to seeing in the self-portrait.

During the panel, Goyer explained that there is a five-year gap in Da Vinci’s history, from the age of about 27  to about 32, and that about 7000 of 13,000 journaled pages went missing after his death. A mystery, just waiting to be filled in by a likely writer; it is during that five-year gap that this series takes place. Goyer says he took advantage of the fact that Da Vinci lived around the same time as other giants of the time, and in fact they were just shooting some scenes that included Vlad the Impaler.

We have the official video of the panel, but first we’ll show you what Starz says about the series, and the first TV spot. Be warned, you won’t have learned much about the show from the first two.

Da Vinci’s Demons – Coming Spring 2013
In a world where thought and faith are controlled, one man fights to set knowledge free.

The secret history of Leonardo Da Vinci’s tantalizing life reveals a portrait of a young man tortured by a gift of superhuman genius. He is a heretic intent on exposing the lies of religion. An insurgent seeking to subvert an elitist society. A bastard son who yearns for legitimacy with his father.

He finds himself in the midst of a storm that has been brewing for centuries. A conflict between truth and lies, religion and reason, past and future. His aspirations are used against him by the opposing forces of the time—luring him into a game of seduction where those who despise his intellect need him most.

Leonardo must take up the fight against foes who use history to suppress the truth. A hero armed only with genius,
Da Vinci stands alone against the darkness within, and the darkness without.

Facing an uncertain future, his quest for knowledge nearly becomes his undoing as he explores the fringes of his own sanity. Da Vinci throws himself into his genius and emerges as an unstoppable force that lifts an entire era out of darkness and propels it into light.

His story becomes a mirror into our own world, calling us all to join his fight to Free the Future.

From David S. Goyer, Co-Writer The Dark Knight Rises Trilogy and Man of Steel. For more about David S. Goyer: http://www.davidsgoyer.com/

TV Spot: Da Vinci’s Demons
[youtube]http://youtu.be/Jh9RkI2IZB4[/youtube]

Featurette: Da Vinci’s Demons – Comic-Con Panel
[youtube]http://youtu.be/UPQ58CM241A[/youtube]

We’ll keep you posted.

Da Vinci’s Demons, starring Tom Riley, Laura Haddock, and Lara Pulver, will air in the spring 2013 on Starz.