If there’s one thing that Fox has taught us, it’s that there’s no property or concept so unique that it can’t be repackaged as a police procedural. The latest development on that front has seen two lead actors cast for Fox’s TV sequel to Minority Report, in which one of the precogs teams up with a detective so that he can use his psychic abilities to fight crimes – and now it looks like not even the Lord of Hell is safe from his obligatory stint in law enforcement.

Last week we reported that Fox has also given a green light to Lucifer, a fantasy crime drama featuring the character who originated in Neil Gaiman’s Sandman comics and later received his own run of comics. Scripted by Tom Kapinos (Californication), the pilot follows Lucifer as he steps down from his throne in Hell and finds new amusement in Los Angeles by helping the LAPD to punish criminals.

It looks like things are moving ahead fast on the pilot, as Variety reports that British actor Tom Ellis has already been cast as the lead in Lucifer. UK audiences will probably recognize Ellis from his regular role in sitcom Miranda, where he played a dreamboat chef called Gary who serves as the main character’s romantic interest for the series. There are no current plans for a fourth season of Miranda, which leaves Ellis’ schedule pretty free for a more extended commitment to Lucifer if the pilot gets a full season order.

Ellis doesn’t have the trademark pale blond hair of the character from the comics, but that’s something that could easily be fixed if the showrunners choose. After all, Constantine star Matt Ryan was brunette prior to being cast in the role, but the make-up and hair department did a good job of keeping his roots in check.

Lucifer represents an expanding presence of DC comics adaptations on TV, which also includes Gotham, Arrow, The Flash and the upcoming Supergirl series on CBS. Although there will always be speculation about shared universes when it comes to comic book properties, for the moment it looks like Lucifer will be a standalone with no connection to Fox’s other DC comics-based police procedural.

Total Recall director Len Wiseman is attached to direct the Lucifer pilot, and is also executive producing alongside Jerry Bruckheimer and Jonathan Littman.

We’ll keep you updated on Lucifer as development continues.