He first appeared in the comic books 38 years ago, fighting evil in the same issue as Superman. He’s even joined forces with Batman. But Christopher Chance—the heroic security expert played by Mark Valley in the new Fox series Human Target—can’t lay claim to any superpowers. He’s just your average wiseass adrenaline junkie with Mensa-level smarts and a big, fat death wish.

“This character has been sneaking around under the radar in comics and graphic novels for decades, never hugely famous, but somehow he’s managed to avoid obscurity because of one thing: The guy has unbelievable balls,” says Valley (Fringe, Boston Legal). “He’s the ultimate in suicidal bravery.”

And how. This bod-for-hire has no qualms about inserting himself into any dangerous—or dangerously stupid—situation in order to guard a client. He’s even willing to take on your identity if someone wants you killed, hence the name Human Target. In the show’s premiere episode, Chance gets on board a futuristic bullet train that’s headed toward a crash so that he can protect a dishy damsel (Battlestar Galactica’s Tricia Helfer) from death threats.

“There’s something so interesting about a character who looks like a movie star and is hilariously funny but lacks any sense of self-preservation,” notes series creator Jonathan Steinberg (Jericho). “It’s a conceit that allows us to do a show with no rules. Because Chance is not a cop tied down to solving crimes in the same old city, we can take him anywhere in the world and make the equivalent of a high-octane action movie every week.”

Chance’s backstory in the comics has him driven by childhood demons—he tried but failed to protect his father, who was slaughtered by a loan shark, and vowed to never again be so physically helpless. But it’s unclear if the series will borrow from that lore. “We probably won’t find out about Chance’s past this season,” Valley says. “But I do know there’s some sort of unconventional mentor who trained him, and that’s fascinating to me. It means we’re not doing a remake of ‘Die Hard’ completely.”

Not even Chance’s confidant and business partner Winston, played by Chi McBride (Pushing Daisies), is privy to his history. “There’s got to be some pretty big issue that makes Chance willing to go headfirst into a buzz saw, and my character wants to get to the bottom of it,” McBride says. It’s a double-edged sword. Winston, who has a past in law enforcement, brings in all these cases for Chance to solve, then he’s concerned that Chance isn’t being careful. But Chance lives by his own rule: ‘Don’t be careful. Careful will get you killed.’”

Also in the mix is Oscar nominee Jackie Earle Haley (Little Children, Watchmen) as Chance’s shadowy backup man Guerrero. “You can’t help but wonder what’s up with my character—he’s the cleaner and the fixer, yet his ethics are questionable,” Haley says. “The three form this weird sort of team. It’s like Chance is the recovering addict, Winston is the sponsor, and Guerrero is the drug dealer. Basically, they’re a dysfunctional family.”

Not only does Valley need to be intellectually and verbally acute for this show (and speak fluent Japanese!), but the intricately choreographed fight scenes put him in true danger. “With every other TV show I’ve done, it’s no big deal if you miss your mark or you’re slightly late on a cue,” Valley says. “If that happens on this show, I get myself punched in the head. So far I’m surviving on ice and ibuprofen.”

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