Aliza Vellani Made Series Regular on Netflix's Sweet Tooth

Prior to the release of Sweet Tooth, Aliza Vellani has already been promoted to a series regular on the Netflix series. An adaptation of the Jeff Lemire series from DC's Vertigo imprint, Vellani is set to play Rani Singh, one of the many characters hoping to survive in a post-apocalyptic world. The report first surfaced thanks to Deadline.

Production on the series reportedly started earlier this fall in New Zealand after Netflix was able to get the country to grant the production access with its tough COVID-restrictions in place. The show is expected to film principal photography through December.

Vellani is part of an expansive cast that includes Dania Ramierez (X-Men: The Last Stand, Tell Me a Story), Nonso Anozie (Artemis Fowl, Game of Thrones), Adeel Akhtar (Victoria & Abdul, The Big Sick) and Will Forte (The Last Man on Earth, Saturday Night Live), with James Brolin (Life in Pieces, Amityville Horror, Westworld) as the voice of the narrator.

The series, which is produced by Robert and Susan Downey's Team Downey, first filmed a pilot for Hulu last year, but the streamer ultimately passed. Netflix then picked the series up for an eight-episode first season written by Jim Mickle (Hap and Leonard) and Beth Schwartz (Arrow). Mickle is also set to direct, while Warner Bros. Television, Amanda Burrell, Linda Moran, and Evan Moore will executive produce.

"Last month Netflix announced the Sweet Tooth television series produced by Robert Downey Jr. and Susan Downey," Lemire wrote in an e-mail newsletter earlier this summer. "The series will start with an 8-episode season and launch on Netflix late this year or early next. I'm not allowed to reveal any more details about the show yet, but I can say that I was on set for the filming of the pilot in New Zealand last year, which was an incredible experience, and the pilot came out amazingly well. I couldn't be more pleased with the adaptation. It's super faithful to the comic and I can't wait for the show to launch."

The Sweet Tooth comic series ran from 2009 to 2013 and Lemire is set to bring the story back this week with Sweet Tooth: The Return from DC Comics.

Sweet Tooth has yet to get a release date from Netflix.

What other indie comics would you liked to see adapted for Netflix or another streaming service? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section!