I think pretty highly of Paul Bettany. The man has played opposite Russell Crowe twice with wonderful results, and his Chaucer in A Knight’s Tale is still one of my favorite comedic roles. While I think a lot of the actor, I’ve never exactly pictured him as the savior of mankind, although I’m intrigued to see what he’ll do with the role now that he’s signed on for with his next picture.

The movie is Legion, which will mark the directorial debut of Scott Stewart, who has been behind the scenes as visual effects supervisor for his co-founded visual effects house, The Orphanage (used in movies like Pirates of the Carribbean and Live Free or Die Hard). According to Variety, the story follows a small group of misfits holed up in a diner in the desert, who represent the last hope for humanity after God loses faith in mankind and sends the legions of angels to wipe out the human race a second time. Among those holed up is archangel Michael, to be played by Bettany.

While Stewart may be untested as a director, part of the reason he got the job was because of his script rewrite on the project (another area that he’s relatively fresh in), which was described as putting character over spectacle. Between that idea and hiring someone like Bettany to play the character, I’d say Legion has a shot at being something quite interesting, at least on paper. We’ll see how the actual execution is pulled off as production begins in March for Screen Gems.