Starz has debuted a first look teaser trailer for “Da Vinci’s Demons” at this years San Diego Comic-Con.

The eight-episode series, stars British actor Tom Riley (Monroe, Lost in Austen) in the lead role and is written by David S. Goyer (Man of Steel, The Dark Knight Rises).

Spooks and Sherlock actress Lara Pulver was also announced earlier in the year, Pulver will play famed enchantress and political machinator Clarice Orsini, aristocratic wife of Florentine ruler Lorenzo Medici.

In a world where thought and faith are controlled, one man fights to set knowledge free.

Leonardo Da Vinci is tortured by a gift of superhuman genius. He finds himself in a conflict between truth and lies, religion and reason, past and future. His aspirations are used against him by the opposing forces of the time – luring him into a game of seduction where those who despise his intellect need him most. His quest for knowledge nearly becomes his undoing.

Da Vinci throws himself into his genius and emerges as an unstoppable force that lifts an entire era out of darkness and propels it into light. His story becomes a mirror into our own world, calling us all to join his fight to free the future.

Goyer commented earlier in the year: “Given that da Vinci was the model for the ‘Renaissance Man,’ these were incredibly large shoes to fill. Leonardo had to be smart, witty, and incredibly confident – without coming across as arrogant. He also had to be tormented, because, as a true visionary and polymath, he was ostracized for his ideas as much as he was celebrated. Tom came in and was able to effortlessly combine all of those elements. As soon as he finished his audition, we knew we’d found our man.”

Da Vinci’s Demons is due to air on Starz in the US Spring 2013. A UK airdate is yet to be announced for the BBC Worldwide distributed series.