Entertainment Weekly exclusively reveal that independent entertainment studio IM Global and independent U.K. games developer and publisher Rebellion have struck a deal to turn the iconic comic book character into a live-action TV show called Judge Dredd: Mega City One.

The potential show is set in a future where the East Coast of the U.S. has become a crowded and crime-ridden megalopolis. The plan is to make the series an ensemble drama about a team of Judges — futuristic cops invested with the power to be judge, jury, and executioner — as they deal with the challenges the future-shocked 22nd century throws at them.

Despite its 22nd century setting, many of the issues they encounter will have echoes of those today – from the dangers of domestic terrorism to the tensions between the ultra-rich and the disenfranchised.

This year marks the 40th anniversary of Judge Dredd, which was created by John Wagner and Carlos Ezquerra in 1977.

America is an irradiated wasteland. Within it lies a city. Outside the boundary walls, a desert. A cursed earth. Inside the walls, a cursed city, stretching from Boston to Washington D.C. An unbroken concrete landscape. 800 million people living in the ruin of the old world and the mega structures of the new one. Mega blocks. Mega highways. Mega City One. Convulsing. Choking. Breaking under its own weight. Citizens in fear of the street. The gun. The gang. Only one thing fighting for order in the chaos: the men and women of the Hall of Justice. Juries. Executioners. Judges.