By Ethan Anderton/Feb. 23, 2016 12:30 pm EST
In the show, Jean-Claude Van Damme is just the persona that Jean-Claude Van Johnson puts on in order to do dangerous private contractor work. Projects like Double Team with Dennis Rodman and the awful Street Fighter movie were only done to provide cover for Van Johnson’s secret operations. But now, not unlike Van Damme, Van Johnson finds himself out of his prime. He can’t do the splits to avoid getting hit with a metal pipe, he’s depressed by the family photos in the holiday cards he gets sent by Dolph Lundgren, and he’s just not the man he used to be.
Jean-Claude Van Damme comes out of retirement to put on once again the mantle of his alter-ego, undercover private contractor Jean-Claude Johnson. “Johnson’s” cover as the lead role in a re-imagined action film version of “Huckleberry Finn” lands him right back in the midst of the danger he secretly always craves–but most importantly, back in the orbit of Vanessa, his fellow operative and the woman he loves.
This is a project that features Van Damme poking fun at himself on a level far above JCVD, cocky about his career, both in film and private contracting. It exists in a world where there are plenty more covert operatives working undercover as actors, such as David Schwimmer (who isn’t necessarily confirmed to be part of the cast just yet) as Van Johnson’s rival, working for the same organization. The script from 2014 by The Expendables writer Dave Callaham is hilarious in its mocking of the entertainment industry while delivering plenty of action as well.
Adding to the promising nature of this project is the fact that it’s being executive produced by Ridley Scott and The Good Wife and The Man in the High Castle executive producer David W. Zucker. But sealing the deal is Key & Peele director Peter Atencio being at the helm of the series. The director has crafted some of the best sketches parodying genre films that television has ever seen, and if his work in the trailer for Keanu is any indicator, he’s the perfect man for this job.
