Ian Somerhalder Shows off His New 'V-Wars' Character

Ian Somerhalder is trading in his fangs for a white lab coat!

The former Vampire Diaries actor is starring in a new Netflix series, V-Wars, about — guess what? — vampires, but this time around he's not playing one of the undead (that we know of).

Somerhalder's new character, Dr. Luther Swann, is a human who's trying to understand a dangerous and rapid-spreading disease that's causing people to turn into vampires. It's even infected his best friend, Michael Fayne (played by Adrian Holmes).

Here he is... @drlutherswannofficial aka Dr. Luther Swann. Would you trust this man? #vwars @vwarsnetflix @vwars @vwarsofficial

A post shared by iansomerhalder (@iansomerhalder) on Aug 15, 2018 at 12:24pm PDT

V-Wars has been given a 10-episode at the streaming service. It's based off the IDW comic by Jonathan Maberry.

By the looks of the photo Somerhalder posted on Instagram, his character runs into some trouble, given the smeared blood on his knuckles.

Check out some other BTS images from the upcoming fantasy drama series:

New video from the set! Thanks for sharing @adrianholmes That's FAYNETASTIC #vwars #iansomerhalder #adrianholmes #drlutherswann #Netflix #idwentertainment #michaelfayne

A post shared by V-Wars (@vwarsnetflix) on Jul 31, 2018 at 7:16pm PDT

#repost from @vwarsofficial VWars crew hard at work #vwarsofficial #behindthescenes #idwentertainment #netflix #iansomerhalder #adrianholmes #jackylai #drlutherswann

A post shared by V-Wars (@vwarsnetflix) on Jul 17, 2018 at 9:41am PDT

#repost from @bradturnerdirector Week 4 of filming is completed 🧛‍♂️ #vwars #iansomerhalder #adrianholmes #jackylai #drlutherswann #michaelfayne #theyarehuntingus #Netflix #idwentertainment

A post shared by V-Wars (@vwarsnetflix) on Aug 4, 2018 at 6:27pm PDT