David Tennant Lending Voice To Animated Adaptation Of 'Chew' Comic Book

Former Doctor Who star David Tennant will already enter the realm of comic books with a villainous role in the forthcoming Marvel and Netflix series AKA Jessica Jones, but that's not the only comic book gig the actor has booked.

Tennat has just landed a role in the voice cast of Chew, the animated adaptation of the popular Image Comics title. His addition to the voice cast roster is bittersweet, however, because Tennant is taking a role that was originally meant to be filled by Robin Williams, before he passed away last August.

Find out more about David Tennant joining Chew after the jump!

For those who may not be familiar with the comic book series on which this animated film will be based, here's the official synopsis for the 2009 comic book written by John Layman and drawn by Rob Guillory:

Tony Chu is a cop with a secret. A weird secret. Tony Chu is Cibopathic, which means he gets psychic impressions from whatever he eats. It also means he's a hell of a detective, as long as he doesn't mind nibbling on the corpse of a murder victim to figure out whodunit, and why. It`s a dirty job, and Tony has to eat terrible things in the name of justice. And if that wasn't bad enough, the government has figured out Tony Chu`s secret. They have plans for him... whether he likes it or not.

The Walking Dead star Steven Yeun is starring in the lead role while Felicia Day (The Guild) will play Amelia Mintz, a "saboscrivner" food critic who is able to convey the experience of eating through her writing. The two travel around a world where a bird flu epidemic has forced a ban on chicken, giving birth to a system of chicken smuggling. And if that's not ridiculous enough, the comic also sports crooks, cooks, cannibals, clairvoyants and conspiracies, as well as several characters with a variety of food-based superpowers.

So who's Tennant playing in all this madness? THR says he'll be lending his voice to the character Mason Savoy, a mentor to the lead character. His casting should get plenty of fresh eyes to pay attention to the film. Honestly, the entire cast so far is full of stars who are quite beloved by nerds of the world. And there's plenty of roles left to fill.

Directing the film will be Jeff Krelitz, who is no stranger to passionate nerdy fanbases, having directed the animated Torchwood: Web of Lies. And Krelitz will also produce with David Boxenbaum by way of their Heavy Metal multimedia company. Previously Chew was supposed to be a series on Showtime, but after that news surfaced in 2011, the project never came to fruition.

This sounds like quite the niche comic book adaptation, but the series does have plenty of acclaim after being a New York Times bestselling title, not to mention being named Best Indie Series of 2009 by IGN and Best New Series of 2009 by MTV Splash Page. So now might be the time to check out this peculiar comic book before the movie comes together.

Anyone out there interested in Chew? Does David Tennant add some flare to this project?