Colin Farrell is trading brooding detectives and tragic loners for something far more combustible: a priest with a bloodstained past. The actor has officially signed on to lead “Ordained,“ a new action thriller written by “John Wick” architect Derek Kolstad and produced by Marvel veterans Joseph and Anthony Russo under their AGBO banner.

It’s a rare return to full-throttle action for Farrell, who hasn’t headlined a straightforward, bullets-and-broken-bones action film since 2003’s somewhat forgotten “S.W.A.T.”. Everything since has been orbiting the genre from safer distances, caped crusaders (“Daredevil”, “The Batman”), hard sci-fi (“Minority Report”), or crime dramas that simmer rather than explode. “Ordained” looks ready to bring him back into the blast radius.

Farrell stars as Father Roy Craig, a priest who delivers last rites to a dying mob boss; only the man doesn’t die. Before his miraculous recovery, he confesses a litany of crimes to Father Roy, effectively placing the priest in the crosshairs of every hitman, crooked cop, and underworld soldier on the boss’s payroll. Unfortunately for them, Father Roy’s own history is far less holy than his collar suggests. He’s more than capable of fighting back, and far more dangerous than the mob expects.

The film is adapted from an upcoming comic series of the same name, created by writer Robert Venditti with art by Trevor Hairsine and colors by Dave Stewart. The comic, published by Bad Idea, debuts December 10, meaning the cinematic version is racing neck-and-neck with the source material into the world.

With Kolstad’s penchant for balletic violence and Farrell’s knack for wounded, volatile characters, “Ordained” could offer a fresh twist on the “man of God pushed too far” archetype; something stylish, brutal, and faintly blasphemous enough to make the pulpit shake.

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