First Look: David S. Goyer's Starz Drama 'Da Vinci's Demons' (Exclusive Photos)

David Goyer is shifting from Batman and Superman to … Leonardo Da Vinci.

our editor recommends

Starz Casts British Actor Tom Riley to Play da Vinci in Drama 'Da Vinci's Demons'

Starz's 'Da Vinci's Demons' Casts British Actress as its Leading Lady

Comic-Con 2012 Video: First Teaser for Starz's 'Da Vinci's Demons' Unveiled

Starz’s 'Da Vinci’s Demons' Goes Overseas with Fox International Channels (Exclusive)

The scribe who co-wrote The Dark Knight Rises and the upcoming Man of Steel will set his sights the famed artist's adventures with Starz's Da Vinci's Demons, an eight-part historical fantasy drama about Leonardo Da Vinci's quest to expose the lies of religion.

STORY:  Starz Orders David Goyer's Da Vinci's Demons to Series

The action-adventure drama stars Tom Riley as Da Vinci and tells the "untold" story of a 25-year-old Da Vinci during his turbulent youth in Renaissance Florence as the artist, inventor, swordsman, lover, dreamer and idealist struggles to live within the confines of his own reality and time. He begins to not only see the future but invent it.

"The show is insanely ambitious in scope, schedule, action and the nature of Leonardo's mind," Riley tells The Hollywood Reporter, noting his challenges during the production has been to learning to do things left-handed to accurately portray the ambidextrous genius.

VIDEO: First Teaser for Starz's 'Da Vinci's Demons' Unveiled

"My apartment is littered with sketches in various stages of completion that I attempted with my weaker hand, as well as reams of backwards writing," he says. "I've got a handy pair of foam nunchuks that I've been given to increase dexterity in my left wrist, so the double-handed sword fighting comes more naturally than it otherwise would. Safe to say, this job has pushed me harder and into stranger directions than any I've had before."

Check out an exclusive first look at Riley as Da Vinci in the photos above and below. Starz will present a first-look at the series on Saturday at 1:45 p.m. New York Comic-Con. The panel will feature Goyer, Riley, co-stars Laura Haddock and Lara Pulver and be held in room 1A21.

Da Vinci's Demons, a Starz/BBC Worldwide Productions co-production, will premiere next year on Starz.

Email: Lesley.Goldberg@thr.com; Twitter: @Snoodit