Starz drama Counterpart starring J.K. Simmons debuts pulse-pounding trailer

J.K. Simmons, meet J.K. Simmons.

Starz has released the first trailer for its anticipated drama series Counterpart, which centers on Howard (Simmons), a lowly cog in the bureaucratic machinery of a Berlin-based United Nations spy agency. “I have come to this building every day and done my job,” he says at the beginning of the trailer. “Three decades I have given to this office. But honestly, sometimes it scares me. I don’t know what we do here.”

When Howard discovers that his organization safeguards the secret of a crossing into a parallel dimension, he is thrust into a shadow world of intrigue, and danger, where the only man he can trust is his near-identical counterpart from the parallel world. Viewers got their first look at the show’s trippy premise in an eerie teaser earlier this year.

Counterpart, created by Justin Marks, was ordered straight-to-series for two seasons by Starz way back in the spring of 2015, with Oscar nominee Morten Tyldum (The Imitation Game) attached as executive producer and director. In addition to Simmons, who won an Oscar for his turn in Whiplash, the series stars Olivia Williams, Harry Lloyd, Nicholas Pinnock, Nazanin Boniadi, Sara Serraiocco, and Ulrich Thomsen.

Counterpart premieres Sunday, Jan. 21 at 8 p.m. on Starz.