It’s been more than two years since the wheels began to turn on the idea of bringing Garth Ennis’ comic Preacher to the small screen, and it’s been nine months since the pilot was ordered. But once that was done, it didn’t take long for AMC to make a decision, and Preacher has been ordered to series and will premiere on the cable channel sometime next year.
Seth Rogen, who has been behind the adaptation of the comic about a Texas preacher on a quest to literally find God, was the one who actually broke the news via Twitter today - you know, the way all news is broken these days. But AMC did follow up with an official press release covering the details. Preacher will get a 10-episode first season and is expected to premiere sometime in 2016. The series will star Dominic Cooper, best known for playing Howard Stark in Captain America: The First Avenger and Agent Carter, in the lead role of preacher Jesse Custer. Other folks going along for the ride include Ian Coletti as the deformed Arseface, Joe Gilgun as the foul-mouthed vampire Cassidy, and another formal Marvel co-star. Ruth Negga. as Custer’s girlfriend Tulip.
Rogan and his business partner Evan Goldberg, who both directed the pilot and will be producing the series, are vocal fans of the comic and have expressed their desire to make the series as good as it can be. This should be music to the ears of any longtime fans who want to be sure the comics are done justice on the screen.
AMC, for their part, is surely looking at Preacher as a place to replicate the success they’ve seen with another dramatic comic series, The Walking Dead. They’ve been able to turn that one into two separate series now. It will be interesting to see if this series, like that one, takes the opportunity of reinterpretation to make significant changes to the story, or if we’re looking at a more exact retelling. One thing is for sure, the first artwork, sent as part of Rogan’s tweet, does a great job to put you in the right frame of mind without saying much at all.
We’re certainly looking forward to Preacher’s premiere on AMC next year. It’s been a long road for those involved, as well as fans, to follow the project this far. Today is day to celebrate that success and look forward to what’s to come.
