Television's current appetite for horror and comics collides, as Garth Ennis and Steve Dillon's supernatural series Preacher takes one step closer to reality. Brit actor Joe Gilgun (Misfits / This is England) is the latest name confirmed for the cast, as Irish vampire Cassidy.

The lead role of possessed preacher Jesse Custer hasn't been announce as yet, but Jesse's girlfriend, Tulip O'Hara, will be played by Ruth Negga (another Misfits alumni and currently appearing in Marvel's Agents of SHIELD) while Ian Colletti will take on the severely disfigured Arseface, presumably under a ton of prosthetics.

This will be the third attempt to bring the much-loved comic series from DC Vertigo to the small screen, with James Marston linked to an early version in 1998, while HBO snapped up the rights in 2006 but cold feet due to the overtly religious and controversial nature of the story.

And let's not forget the failed attempt by Sam Mendes to bring Preacher to cinemas in 2008. The director left the project to concentrate on Skyfall and later admitted Preacher was probably more suited to a TV series.

Seth Rogan and regular collaborator Evan Goldberg helped develop the current version at AMC, with Breaking Bad writer Sam Catlin coming on board to pen the pilot (expected some time in 2016).