Clive Owen has had a bit of a spotty career in recent years, but thanks to Steven Soderbergh’s Cinemax series The Knick, we’ve been reminded just how great Owen can be with the right material. Perhaps a new Luc Besson film will make good use of him, as the actor has joined Dane DeHaan and Cara Delevingne in the director’s new, high-concept sci-fi film Valerian.

Deadline reports that Owen has joined the cast of the upcoming film, based on Christin Pierre’s French graphic novel series of the same name. The first installment was published in 1967, with the final installment arriving in 2010. The series centers on Valerian, a spacio-temporal agent and his companion, Laureline. Here’s the description of the first graphic novel volume:

Galaxity, capital of the Terran Empire in the 28th century. Valerian and Laureline are agents who protect mankind from rogue time travellers. Now they are sent to New York in 1986 to intercept Galaxity’s worst megalomaniac, Xombul-except that in 1986, the world is in ruins and New York is about to be swallowed by the ocean. The two agents must navigate the shifting waters of the past to make sure that the future will exist.

Owen will play the role of Commander Arun Filitt in the film, which is populated by five main human characters and several alien creatures. The Valerian comics have been a huge inspiration for Besson, and you can see some of their influence in The Fifth Element. The director hasn’t revealed any plot specifics as of yet, but he has many volumes of Valerian from which to pick and choose.

Valerian is targeting a 2017 release date to give Besson plenty of time to create this epic sci-fi film. In the meantime, he’s also developing a sequel to Lucy but has not yet been confirmed to direct.

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