Arnold Schwarzenegger is The Governator

Arnold Schwarzenegger has announced his first project since leaving political office, 'The Governator'.

Getting its title from the nickname the 'Terminator' star was given when he served as the Governor of California, the project is a superhero TV series, developed in collaboration with comic book artist Stan Lee - creator of Spider-Man, the X-Men and The Hulk among others.

Arnold, 63, explained to Entertainment Weekly magazine: "When I ran for governor back in 2003 and I started hearing people talking about 'The Governator', I thought the word was so cool.

"The word Governator combined two worlds - the world of politics and the movie world. And the cartoon brings everything together. It combines the governor, the 'Terminator', the bodybuilding world, the 'True Lies' world."

The Governator character is loosely based on Arnold's past as an action movie star, world champion bodybuilder, his persona when serving in office and combines all these things to create a fictional life for him when he leaves politics.

Stan explained: "'The Governator' is going to be a great superhero, but he'll also be Arnold Schwarzenegger. We're using all the personal elements of Arnold's life.

"Only after he leaves the governor's office, Arnold decides to become a crime fighter and builds a secret high-tech crime-fighting centre under his house in Brentwood."

In the series, which will be aimed at children, The Governator will fight crime and right wrongs, aided by a quartet of teenage helpers, each of whom possesses a unique set of talents.

Among them will be Zeke Muckerberg, a 13 year-old computer genius, inspired by the founder of social networking website Facebook Mark Zuckerberg. Together they will face supervillans from an evil organisation called Gangsters Imposters Racketeers Liars and Irredeemable Ex-cons, or G.I.R.L.I.E. Men, for short.