Kevin Costner’s comeback is picking up steam. After a few fallow years he’s playing Jonathan Kent in Man Of Steel, as well as Jack Ryan’s mentor in the upcoming reboot of the Tom Clancy series (and he may get his own spin-off from that). Now it’s been revealed that Costner has signed with Atria Books for a new serialised illustrated adventure called The Explorers Guild, which is described as being reminiscent of Joseph Conrad and Rudyard Kipling.

The plan is to serialise it across traditional and new media, first as a series of books, then as an animated series, and eventually as live action theatrical films, which Costner intends to produce and star in.

Here’s the synopsis: ‘Behind the staid rooms of an old world gentlemen’s club operates a darker, more mysterious organization: The Explorers Guild, a clandestine group of adventurers who seek out the places where light gives way to shadow and reason is usurped by myth. The secrets of this unknown world are hidden in mountain ranges and lost in deserts, sunk to the ocean floor and lodged deep beneath polar ice. The aim of The Explorer’s Guild: to discover the mysteries that lie beyond the boundaries of the known world.

‘Set against the backdrop of World War I, with Western Civilization spiraling into chaos, the first installment in The Explorers Guild series, A Passage to Shambhala, concerns the Guild’s quest to find Shambhala, the golden city of Buddhist myth. Each member is driven toward the City for a different reason: one believes that finding it will save his brother’s life; another hopes that it will reveal a path to spiritual enlightenment. Some believe the power of the city can be used to restore peace, while others are certain that Shambhala is responsible for bringing mankind to the brink of apocalypse.

‘The search will take us from the Polar North to the Mongolian deserts, through the underground canals of Asia to deep into the Himalayas, before the City finally divulges its secrets and the globe-spanning journey plays out to its startling conclusion.’

Costner commented , “A heroic quest with the vivid wildness of Jules Verne, and steeped in world history but with mystical overtones, I believe that The Explorers Guild series will engage readers of all ages in a multi-generational experience that will lend itself to a host of entertainment platforms. As a storyteller and filmmaker, I am intrigued by the inherent resourcefulness, wit, and at times violent nature these characters embody, and I am truly excited to partner with Judith Curr and her team at Atria to bring this epic tale to readers around the world.”

There’s also news via TheWrap that Costner is circling the Ivan Reitman football comedy Draft Day. He’d play the general manager of the Buffalo Bills, who spends his days looking for top players to save his troubled team.

For quite a long time Kevin Costner’s career was on the slide largely because he continued to want to always be the leading man, even though audiences weren’t as interested in his movies as they had been. However he now appears to have accepted that supporting roles are a good way for him to keep his profile high, most notably playing Jonathan Kent in the upcoming Man Of Steel.

Now he’s looking to take on two new roles, one a supporting character in a high profile movie and the other slightly smaller but with Costner in the lead. He’s currently being sought to play Jack Ryan’s mentor in the planned reboot of the Tom Clancy franchise. Chris Pine will play Ryan, with Kenneth Branagh directing. Costner’s part would apparently be pretty large, although still second-fiddle to Pine.

The other movie is Three Days to Kill, which would feature Costner as Ethan Renner, an government assassin on the verge of death that takes on one final mission. The script is written by Adi Hasak and Luc Besson. (Source: Deadline)