Syfy Making Female-Led VAN HELSING TV Show

Continuing the trend of gender-swapped heroes, Syfy has acquired a female-led Van Helsing TV series that will focus on Vanessa Van Helsing, the daughter of the vampire hunting character who faced off against Dracula.

In this new interpretation, the central character is now a female, Vanessa Helsing, the next in a lineage of warriors who must lead mankind against a world controlled by vampires. When Vanessa is resurrected five years in the future, she learns vampires have taken over the world and that she possesses unique power over them. She is essentially humanity’s last hope to lead an offensive to take back what has been lost.

THR has the news, and they also report that the show is going to be run by an unlikely person: notable playwright Neil LaBute, who famously wrote and directed the remake of The Wicker Man that featured one of Nicolas Cage's most batsh*t-crazy performances. He released a statement commenting on the new show:

"I am extremely excited to be working with Syfy and Nomadic Pictures to create a unique, character-driven action series that will move the traditional vampire tropes into bold and unexpected new territories” LaBute said in a statement. “This is a wonderful chance for us to forge great stories and unforgettable characters and throw them into a world where the stakes – both dramatic and personal – are tremendously high."

No word yet on whether or not this will have any impact on the (and I swear this is real) long-gestating live-action film reboot that's supposed to star Tom Cruise.

Production will start in January and the 13-episode first season will debut in fall of 2016. I'm not well-versed in Dracula and vampire lore (and I never saw the Hugh Jackman-led Van Helsing film from 2004), so I'll leave this one to the true fans to discuss in the comment section. What do you think about a female-led Van Helsing series?