Sons of Anarchy spin-off Coming Soon FX has officially commissioned a pilot for its Mayans MC project

There’s serious movement on that Sons of Anarchy spin-off.

FX has officially commissioned a pilot script for its Mayans MC project and brought aboard writer-director Elgin James to serve as co-creator along with Kurt Sutter. The potential series is described as a “dark, visceral family drama that takes a new look at the most American of icons, the 1% outlaw, this time, reflected through a Latino lens.” James will also write the pilot script.

“I wanted to find a strong, unique Latino voice,” said Sons creator and Mayans executive producer Sutter. “Because I didn’t think a white guy from Jersey should be writing about Latin culture and traditions. Elgin is that voice.”

James has some history that could add some relevant perspective to the show – he previously served a prison sentence “for a past gang-related charge of federal extortion,” the network noted. James’ bio also includes that he founded a street gang in Boston, directed the Sundance entry Little Birds and is slated to direct the upcoming adaptation of A Million Little Pieces.

Sons of Anarchy stands as FX’s most popular drama and ran for seven season after launching in 2008. For years there’s been talk of some kind of spin-off, with this take on the Mayans motorcycle club gaining the most traction.

Sons of Anarchy creator Kurt Sutter has dropped an intriguing detail about his planned Mayans spinoff. The Mayans project will be a contemporary story — not a prequel — and could include some characters from the original series (among the few that are still alive, presumably).

“It’s the same [biker] subculture, but it’d be interesting to see the influences of [Hispanic] culture and how it impacts the subculture we already understand,” Sutter said. “I would do a contemporary piece, not a prequel, and place it far enough away from Northern California that it wouldn’t step on the mythology that’s already been told. It doesn’t mean that there couldn’t be some cool, ironic crossovers with familiar characters as the series progressed. I wouldn’t want to set it too close to the world we already know, and step on that … My intent is, over the hiatus I’ll initiate a script for the pilot and take it from there.”

The long-rumored SoA prequel is still possible too, Sutter added. That story is envisioned as a limited series that would follow Jax’ father John Teller and a young Piney (played by William Lucking in SoA) as they meet during the Vietnam War, return home and then establish SAMCRO.

EW