A witty teen with a sharp sense of fashion and even sharper instincts uses her supernatural powers to defend her town from the forces of darkness. Sound familiar? It seems like Regina King is drawing inspiration from one famous Slayer for a new CW series Slay, a Black-led supernatural teen drama that the Emmy and Oscar-winning actress – who recently made her feature directorial debut with the acclaimed One Night in Miami – is developing.

Variety reports that King is set to executive produce Slay, a supernatural drama series currently in development at the CW. The series follows Carson Jones, “a bold, witty teenager with afro puffs, leather boots, seventies cool, and – thanks to her mother’s ancient African bloodline – supernatural gifts and the responsibility to use them to protect Virginia’s Historic Triangle (one of the most haunted areas in the country) from the forces of darkness.”

Julian Johnson will write and co-executive produce Slay, with Pam Veasey supervising and executive producing. Regina and her sister Reina King will executive produce via their production company, Royal Ties. CBS Television Studios will produce.

King has been on a hot streak for the past few years, winning the fourth Emmy of her career with her starring role’s in HBO’s Watchmen last year, right on the heels of her wins for American Crime and Seven Seconds. She earned an Oscar last year too, for best supporting actress in If Beale Street Could Talk. And it seems like she is going to keep that streak going strong, making her feature directorial debut with One Night in Miami, which earned acclaim at its world premiere at the Venice Film Festival, and taking on increasingly active roles as a producer.

The project also reunites King with Veasey, the former showrinner of CSI: New York and CSI: Cyber, who wrote an ABC pilot two years ago which King had directed and executive produced.

Slay is just the latest TV project for King, having long worked both in front of and behind the camera, and it’s satisfying that she’s using her growing influence to boost Black-led projects — especially Black-led projects that cater to teens who love supernatural shows. Not all projects headlined by Black actors and creators have to be “important,” and it’s refreshing to see such an accomplished figure like King put her weight behind shows that could inspire a whole new generation of teens — and maybe become the next Buffy the Vampire Slayer instead of a tired race-bent rehash.

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