Syfy’s adaptation of Deadly Class isn’t set to premiere until sometime next year, but that didn’t stop them from making a splash at San Diego Comic-Con. Read on to find out what we learned about the highly anticipated series!

Based on the graphic novel series written by Rick Remender and illustrated by Wesley Craig, the story follows Marcus Lopez — a teen who goes from living on the streets to finding himself recruited to attend a peculiar school.

So what’s so strange about it? The school in question aims to train the children of mob bosses and mass murderers to follow in their parents’ footsteps.

As fans of the comics know all too well, Deadly Class takes place in the late 80s.

Just like in the source material, the new Syfy series will work to bring the 80s into the fabric of the story they’re telling not just with fashion and music, but with a realistic reflection of what the world was really like in that decade.

There’s no denying that nostalgia for decades past is an incredibly popular trend in pop culture right now, but when Hypable asked co-showrunner Mick Betancourt how Deadly Class plans to stand out amongst the crop, he said the series plans to lean in to the grittier aspects of the late 80s and early 90s.

“The big difference is that we’re not writing with euphoric recall. We’re not trying to make everything cute and pleasant. 1992 was the highest crime rate on record and so in 1987 when our show starts, we’re bubbling up to that point,” Betancourt told Hypable.

As for keeping things true to the source material, Betancourt, who boarded the Syfy adaptation after the pilot was shot, stressed that as a fan of the graphic novels his top priority was to “serve the source material.”

“My role is to protect and serve Rick [Remender]’s original version for the comics but also the development process that Rick and Miles [Orion Feldsott] went through to bring it to life,” explained Betancourt. “My role is to completely serve the books and protect their creative voice.”

There’s even more good news for fans of the comic book series who are crossing their fingers for a true-to-the-source adaptation: both Remender and Craig, who were also on hand at Deadly Class’s Comic-Con press room, couldn’t stop talking about just how well the series sticks to what they created.

It probably helps that Remender in particular serves as a writer for the show.

He’s also made sure certain things like the use of music stay under his control.

If anything, Remender says that any alterations to the original source material have been made as additions that allow the universe he and Craig have created to go deeper into the story.

One such character they’re fleshing out a bit more is none other than the school’s headmaster, Master Lin (played by Benedict Wong).

“[The show] is an extension of Deadly Class. It’s unpacking the characters in a way that Wes and I envisioned them, it is unpacking the story, it’s true to the intention of what we created in the book, [and] any alterations are minor,” promised Remender. “I think the fans of the book will be delighted to see that it is the book. It’s not subdued or tamed…it’s our broken brains brought to life.”

When it comes to a scene he’s particularly excited for fans to see, Remender said it’s almost impossible to pick just one.

That being said, there is a moment that they’ve filmed that rendered both he and Craig practically speechless.

That moment has to do with Maria.

“Maria’s reveal in Day of the Dead is pretty badass. It’s pretty ridiculous. I remember when it was filming just being in video village and everyone just stopped talking and we were just watching the footage just going, ‘What the fuck is happening?’” recalled Remender. “But there’s so many of those scenes, just so many.”

Executive produced by Marvel veterans Joe and Anthony Russo, Rick Remender, Miles Orion Feldsott, Mick Betancourt, and Mike Larocca, the series stars Benjamin Wadsworth (Marcus Lopez), Lana Condor (Saya Kuroki), Maria Gabriela de Faria (Maria Salazar), Luke Tennis (Willie Lewis), Liam James (Billy) Mitchel Duval (Chico), and Benedict Wong (Master Lin).

If you just can’t wait to catch a glimpse of the series, you’re in luck. The cast and crew also released the first official trailer for the series during their panel at San Diego Comic-Con on Saturday.

Watch the new trailer below!

Syfy’s Deadly Class is slated to debut sometime in 2019.