Two-time Oscar-winning actor Tom Hanks is without a doubt one of the biggest and best-known stars to come out of Hollywood, and over the years, he’s had some pretty diverse roles.

The world-renowned actor’s credits include films like Big, You’ve Got Mail, Forrest Gump, Apollo 13, Cast Away, The Terminal, Catch Me If You Can, Road To Perdition, The Da Vinci Code, The Green Mile, Saving Private Ryan, and plenty, plenty more.

THR report that the actor’s latest project is coming to life this year online, having created an animated sci-fi series called Electric City that he’ll star in, which is to be shown exclusively on Yahoo, marking their first venture into scripted programming. It’s a co-production of Reliance Entertainment (whose credits include The Fighter, The Help, and War Horse), and Playtone, Hanks’ and producer Gary Goetzman’s own production company, perhaps best known for their work producing Band of Brothers and The Pacific.

Hanks will be voicing the lead character, and Yahoo will be putting out about 20 episodes, each roughly 4 minutes long, starting this spring. And according to Ross Levinsohn, Yahoo’s Executive Vice President of “Americas,” there are more things in development at the moment for Yahoo:

“Not just shows, but real experiences. We’re looking to build franchises.”

It’s a pretty ambitious move, and here’s to hoping it will go really well for them. Kicking things off with a show that’s been created by Hanks, whom many would describe as being the quintessential America, is definitely a strong way to start.

Yahoo also partnered last week with Funny or Die, to bring a 13-minute parody of a Republican presidential online debate that was hosted by Larry King himself, which included a cast of John C. McGinley (Scrubs’ Dr. Cox) and Patrick Warburton (Family Guy’s Joe Swanson), and which you can watch right here.

Hanks has of course become very well-known over the years for lending his voice to that little-known character, Woody, from Pixar’s Toy Story, and I’m really looking forward to seeing what Electric City will be like. An animated sci-fi series with Hanks voicing the lead is more than a little intriguing.

The actor will next be seen in Stephen Daldry’s Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, which is one of the many Oscar contenders in the current awards season, and will be coming to UK cinemas on 17th February.