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Underground > Film, TV & Theatre >

Preacher TV Series coming soon to HBO

Elijah, Freelance Rabbi

19:58 / 06.12.06

The thread about Preacher over in comics has veered completely into the territory of the TV series, so I thought I would create a thread here.

Check This Thread for some back story.

Recently posted was This Newsarama interview with Mark Steven Johnsen of Daredevil infamy, slated to script and maybe direct the series.

The Barbelith consensus seems to be that the series had some serious low points. It seems like, from reading the old thread linked to above, that people here were hoping there might be some changes made to the series.

The Newsarama article linked to above indicates that Garth Ennis actually might recognize the weak areas of the series and tried to convince them to change things.

Whats everyones take on it?

Regrettable Juvenilia

20:12 / 06.12.06

Normally I hate moaning about these things before they get made, but on the basis of that interview... All the best HBO series of the past however many years have centred around deeply flawed or downright despicable protagonists. To approach Jesse Custer as some kind of unimpeachable figure of moral rightness is wrong-headed on so many levels, it's mind-boggling.

Jared Louderback

05:13 / 07.12.06

The only way this will be any good is if, somehow, they got antimatter Mark Steven Johnsen, and he can actually... you know... write. I mean, daredevil was one of the worst comicbooks movies I've ever seen, and ghostrider doesn't look too good either.

lonely as a cloud...

07:19 / 07.12.06

I'm not a huge fan of Preacher myself - although when I started reading comics it was the second series, after Sandman, that friends pushed on me - but I think it could make a good series. Given that Ennis and Dillon are apparently onboard as executive producers, it might *actually* be a proper adaptation, as opposed to just something that swipes some ideas and runs away with them.

I'd love to see the Saint of Killers on TV, anyway. That would be cool.

08:20 / 07.12.06

The thing is, from a sticking religiously to the core text pov, painting Jesse as a moral rock, the ultimate man of honour, would seem to be in keeping with Ennis's vision.

That's not to say the show wouldn't benefit from a more critical attitude towards it's protagonist, however.

10:36 / 07.12.06

Cloud - their roles as Executive Producers are more than likely little more than counting the money roles.

From memory, Preacher (and Ennis and Dillon together) tend to create very 'stroy board' style books, so, the lowrent humour and gross out stuff aside (although, saying that...) they always grabbed me as easy to translate to screen comics. I'd agree that a bit of tweeking would probably make the story better on screen. Again, I say that the driector might suprise us all with less of a 'box office centric' studio behind him.

lonely as a cloud...

11:20 / 07.12.06

Benny - maybe I'm being naive, but as far as I know HBO don't *have* to give Ennis & Dillon any part whatsoever in the series - they sold the rights, they have their money. Perhaps Ennis and Dillon were just signed on to give the project an aura of credibility, but it'd be nice to think they would have some input.

I agree totally with Boboss, btw. It'd be nice if Jesse's character developed more than from "real men never cry" to "real men sometimes cry, to get their lady back".

lonely as a cloud...

11:27 / 07.12.06

...which, I'll admit, isn't what Boboss said. And I guess if Jesse's character did change, if his morals moved from being absolute values, that would probably change the finale somewhat (without wishing to spoil the ending for anyone...). But it would still make for (in my view) a more interesting experience than the comics.

Our Lady Has Left the Building

11:51 / 07.12.06

But I made it very clear to him and to HBO that this is a series based on one of the greatest comic series of all time.

Hang on, I thought they were doing a show based on Preacher? I am all confused.

I do wonder how closely they are going to try and follow Steve Dillon's artwork. I assume that it would be costly to use CGI to remove the chins of half the cast, and that there isn't some hillbilly clan of about 60 actors who all look more or less the same that can be cast as 70% of the characters from the first few stories.

Our Lady Has Left the Building

11:59 / 07.12.06

lonely as a cloud I agree totally with Boboss, btw. It'd be nice if Jesse's character developed more than from "real men never cry" to "real men sometimes cry, to get their lady back".

It would be nice if Jesse developed into a real man and not a slug with attitude.

I really do think that if this show is made I'll have to join the NV&L association and throth at the empty spectacle of television today. Why is thia being made into a television show when so many other better works aren't? I mean, they might as well go all the way and do that awful T&A series that Vertigo put out a few years ago.

12:00 / 07.12.06

Well there's always the Baldwins or the Wilsons?

Cloud, sorry, didn't mean to imply niavity - just know that Exec Producer credits rarely mean anything in a creative sense other than being just a token gesture.

12:16 / 07.12.06

Like Our Lady there's other comics I'd like to see adapted (Y the last man, 100 bullets, Groo...) but if the Daredevil Destroyer is at the helm it might as well be Preacher he wrecks. I loved the bit of the interview where Ennis said 'we just did some things...because.' Wow Garth, really? One thing I've been thinking is that you could spice the series up by adding cameos from other Ennis characters, maybe writing them in as distant relations- Kev is Jesse's cousin across the pond, 'uncle' Frank Castle helps him out with gun top tips etc.

12:27 / 07.12.06

I loved the bit of the interview where Ennis said 'we just did some things...because.' Wow Garth, really?

Excuse my pedantry, but I'm not sure I understand you here. That was a quote from MSJ paraphrasing something Ennis said to him, wasn't it? And as such I'm not sure it should be read as Ennis trying to impart some interesting information about his creative process to a wider audience. In light of which, your "Wow Garth, really" comment seems a little odd.

If you ask me that's just someone being honest. I'm sure I'd say something similar if I were in his shoes.

Sorry, nit picky I know.

14:12 / 07.12.06

Sure, there's better series out there, but there's better books than The Shining and they made that into a great movie. That's not to say that this guy is Kubrick, but more that I think it's better to be happy that a Vertigo series is getting the HBO treatment than to question why it wasn't another one. If anything, this show is likely to open the doors for more Vertigo series to be adapted. In the same way that superheroes now provide films with a seemingly endless reservoir of concepts, a successful Preacher series could have networks scurrying for the next comic to adapt. And, just in general, I think having a show that's so different from the average person's conception of what comics are on the air is a good thing.

That said, I'm not sure how I feel about Johnsen's plan to do such an exact adaptation. I'm sure it will be cool for the first few episodes, but I'm not sure if I need to put in 75 hours to see a story I've already read. Plus, I think it'll be an odd series because all the spoilers will already be out there. In terms of helping comics, I think people who are big fans of the show will definitely check out the book, particularly during a midseason hiatus. I know if the next season of The Sopranos was available in comic form right now, I'd want to check it out, and I'd imagine that at least some of the audience will drift over there.

And, I think it's a bit troubling that he considers Jesse such a moral guy, but in the same way you wouldn't want someone who says magic's stupid adapting Promethea, isn't it best to have someone who shares Ennis's beliefs translating the work to screen? That's not to say it couldn't be improved, rather, those 'improvements' might result in the loss of what made the work unique in the first place.

14:13 / 07.12.06

*pouty face*
I liked Preacher. I wouldn't mind seeing it on the screen.

*serious face*
However, one thing I could never rationalize when I read it was Jesse's moral hypocrisy. He's a shitty person who thinks he's doing some good in the world. But he's not. Not really. Not until he becomes the sheriff of that town with the meat-fucker.

14:43 / 07.12.06

If anything, this show is likely to open the doors for more Vertigo series to be adapted.

Now that would be good. It might also add some more life to the imprint, which would be doubly good.

Jack The Bodiless

10:25 / 12.12.06

Boboss: "Excuse my pedantry, but I'm not sure I understand you here. That was a quote from MSJ paraphrasing something Ennis said to him, wasn't it? And as such I'm not sure it should be read as Ennis trying to impart some interesting information about his creative process to a wider audience. In light of which, your "Wow Garth, really" comment seems a little odd."

Not odd. Sarcastic. Because Preacher seemed like it was being plotted completely on the fly with no rhyme or reason to it apart from because they felt like it at the time, Ennis' paraphrased quote from Johnson doesn't come as any great shock.

Personally, I think this could be an awful lot of shallow fun, in the same way as I think Entourage is a lot of shallow fun. Preacher the comic is basically an old school Western writ large, in the same way as Sin City is noir writ large. If they give it a bit of a re-write, to remove Ennis' more adolescent dick jokes more than anything else, it could be a groovy action franchise for HBO, who've made more of a name for themselves with quality contemporary drama over the last few years. Kind of Deadwood meets Angel. I'd watch that.

And in terms of whether there are 'better' comics out there that could be adapted... sure there are. There are better comics. There are better vertigo comics. There are better Ennis/Dillon comics. Any comics better suited to the HBO-style treatment it sounds like Johnson and co are pitching? No, not many. Preacher the series could be that rare thing, an adaptation that improves on the original. It's certainly likely to be better plotted (couldn't hardly be worse).

10:43 / 12.12.06

Not odd. Sarcastic. Because Preacher seemed like it was being plotted completely on the fly with no rhyme or reason to it apart from because they felt like it at the time, Ennis' paraphrased quote from Johnson doesn't come as any great shock.

Good point, and I feel like a berk for missing it. If Preacher is anything it's whimsical.

Our Lady Has Left the Building

08:56 / 29.08.08

If Preacher is anything it's reactionary shit masquerading as entertainment. And it's not going to be made as an HBO show.

Foust is SO authentic

13:45 / 29.08.08

Preacher, at the end of the day, is no more reactionary than any other average piece of pop culture. It is too easy to point at the big, obvious themes like man-protects-woman.

15:33 / 29.08.08

And, though this isn't saying much, it's a lot less reactionary than most of Ennis's other work. Tulip is a pretty interesting and well developed female character, with some agency of her own. Her role may diminish over the course of the series, but in those early days at least, she's on par with Jesse.

And, unlike most mainstream stories, Preacher at least calls into question the man rescues woman norm of fiction. The results may be slanted to Ennis's point of view, but at least he's asking questions.

21:03 / 30.08.08

I actually think there's a case to be made that Preacher isn't manly enough - the entire testosterone-driven, vampire-fighting, god-killing, fish-fucking madness is revealed, at the end, to be nothing more than the lead-in to the two-fisted revelation that it's okay for men to cry.. I mean, how gay is that?

All Acting Regiment

10:21 / 01.09.08

Preacher, at the end of the day, is no more reactionary than any other average piece of pop culture.

There are other things as bad, and certainly worse things, but I wonder what the average is?