Ian Somerhalder Is Bloody And Intense In First Look At New Vampire Series V-Wars

For eight seasons, actor Ian Somerhalder won over legions of Vampire Diaries fans as the smooth-talking bloodsucker Damon Salvatore, but for his new Netflix series V-Wars, he'll be in opposition to the rise of the mythical creatures. Thankfully, Somerhalder gave future audiences our first peek at what we can expect from his new character Dr. Luther Swann, and perhaps it's unsurprising that there's a little bit of blood involved. Check it out!

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No worries about Dr. Luther Swann's health in this shot, as he appears to be doing just fine, even though he likely got into some kind of a fistfight not too long before the pic was taken. Not the most professional look for a doc, to be rocking a white lab coat while one's hand looks like it it was used as a cat's scratching post. I mean, had it actually been used as a scratching post, that would at least be a more innocent excuse than whatever actually bloodied up his fist.

Without knowing too much about V-Wars beyond the previously revealed plot summary, it's largely impossible to assume what happened here. But do facts like that really matter when the lightly brooding Ian Somerhalder is staring so intently into the camera and/or our very souls? I think not.

I guess we can assume it wasn't a vampire that got decked in the face by Ian Somerhalder's doctor, since his hand would have probably been blood-free after being licked clean of all bodily fluids. That might have also been the case had this situation gone down with one of Somerhalder's biggest superfans in real life, too.

For V-Wars, Ian Somerhalder's Dr. Luther Swann enters into a deadly conflict after his best friend Michael Fayne (Adrian Holmes) contracts a mysterious disease that turns him into a blood-drinking predator. As the outbreak spreads, society quickly settles into being a battle between humans and vampires, with Michael rising up in the ranks to become the leader of the menacing monsters. And all the while, Luther is racing against time to figure out what the outbreak is and how it can be handled. Hopefully bad wigs can do the trick.

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Sounds like things will be extremely different for Ian Somerhalder on V-Wars, at least when compared to his time on The Vampire Diaries. But you can bet that Netflix is hoping the vocal audience support will follow the actor from his former gig. Maybe he'll offer up some off-streaming advertising by making an appearance on Julie Plec's new spinoff Legacies in the future.

Adapted from the anthology books as compiled and edited by Jonathan Mayberry, V-Wars was developed for TV by William Laurin and Glenn Davis, and it will also star Jacky Lai, Peter Outerbridge, Kimberly-Sue Murray, and Kyle Harrison Breitkopf. It still doesn't have a date set for its debut on Netflix, but stay tuned to our 2018 Netflix rundown and our fall premiere schedule to see when this show and more will be popping up.

Nick Venable
Assistant Managing Editor

Nick is a Cajun Country native and an Assistant Managing Editor with a focus on TV and features. His humble origin story with CinemaBlend began all the way back in the pre-streaming era, circa 2009, as a freelancing DVD reviewer and TV recapper.  Nick leapfrogged over to the small screen to cover more and more television news and interviews, eventually taking over the section for the current era and covering topics like Yellowstone, The Walking Dead and horror. Born in Louisiana and currently living in Texas — Who Dat Nation over America’s Team all day, all night — Nick spent several years in the hospitality industry, and also worked as a 911 operator. If you ever happened to hear his music or read his comics/short stories, you have his sympathy.