William Adama has been reborn.

The iconic commander of the 'Battlestar Galactica' fleet, who was played by Edward James Olmos in the Syfy series of the same name, will be played in the upcoming 'Blood and Chrome' prequel by Luke Pasqualino from the U.K. version of 'Skins,' according to EW.

'Battlestar Galactica: Blood and Chrome,' a backdoor pilot for a possible young Adama series, chronicles the character's entry into the ongoing Cylon War. 'Husker' Adama is itching to get in the fight, but in 'Blood and Chrome,' he'll be paired with Coker, an officer who has served on the front lines and wants nothing more than to be done with fighting. Coker will be played by Ben Cotton, EW reports.

As I reported in this October story about 'Blood and Chrome,' the pilot, which was written by 'BSG' writer Michael Taylor, will go into production this year, but it's not clear if it will air in 2011 or in early 2012.

"This is very much an action-adventure, war series," Syfy's president of programming, Mark Stern, said then. "This is definitely dealing with people who are fighting the fight ... As you hope 'Battlestar' would do, it kind of comments on that process a little bit... but not in a preachy way, not in an issues-oriented way, not in a hitting-you-over-the-head way. Really, the fabric and the canvas of the series are people in the fight and what they grapple with when it comes to each other and what they grapple with when it comes to the enemy they're fighting."

According to the Syfy site Blastr, young Adama is "a recent Academy graduate who finds himself assigned to the newest Battlestar in the Colonial fleet: the Galactica. Full of ambition and in pursuit of the intense action that the Cylon war promises, Adama quickly finds himself at odds with Coker (Cotton), the battle-weary officer to whom he reports. With 45 days left in his tour of duty, Coker desires an end to battle just as much as Adama craves the start of it. Though they clash at first, the two men forge an unlikely bond when a routine mission turns dangerous and becomes a pivotal one for the desperate fleet."


Update on Thursday, Jan. 27: I just received the official press release about the casting from Syfy. Here it is:

"Syfy has announced that Luke Pasqualino (Skins - UK) and Ben Cotton (Hellcats, Riese) have been cast in Battlestar Galactica: Blood & Chrome, the highly anticipated 2-hour pilot. The all-new chapter in the Battlestar saga unfolds in the thick of the 10th year of the first Cylon war, as the battle between humans and a sentient robot race rages across the 12 colonial worlds.

"Pasqualino will star as the young, talented fighter pilot William Adama, a recent Academy graduate who finds himself assigned to the newest Battlestar in the Colonial fleet: the Galactica. Full of ambition and in pursuit of the intense action that the Cylon war promises, Adama quickly finds himself at odds with Coker (Cotton), the battle-weary officer to whom he reports. With 45 days left in his tour of duty, Coker desires an end to battle just as much as Adama craves the start of it. Though they clash at first, the two men forge an unlikely bond when a routine mission turns dangerous and becomes a pivotal one for the desperate fleet.

"From the award-winning producers of Battlestar Galactica, this new action-packed chapter of the BSG canon was written by Michael Taylor from a story by David Eick, Taylor and Bradley Thompson & David Weddle. David Eick will serve as executive producer. Universal Cable Productions will produce the 2-hour pilot with Syfy, utilizing cutting edge CGI and virtual technology."