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'Preacher' shocked viewers by making Tom Cruise explode — here's where they got the idea

preacher jesse.JPG
Lewis Jacobs/Sony Pictures Televison

AMC's "Preacher" debuted Sunday to applause from both longtime fans of the original '90s comics and newcomers just tuning in to the show. Following a struggling man of faith in a small town in Texas, "Preacher" is already delighting audiences with the same signature mix of explicit violence and irreverent humor that made the graphic novels a cult hit.

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Fans were especially wary after years of TV adaptation attempts, afraid that network censors would dilute the sardonic anti-religious slant of the source material. AMC put those fears to bed early on in the pilot when they dropped a shocking Scientology gag: they made Tom Cruise explode. 

tom-cruise-explodes
AMC

When Jesse finds himself in an Annville bar contemplating whether to leave the church, a news report airs in the background revealing Tom Cruise exploded in front of a live audience during a congregation at the Church of Scientology.

Tom Cruise's death is a callback to the show's opening scene, in which a mysterious entity from space inhabits the body of a preacher in Africa, killing him before the horrified eyes of his parish.

preacher priest.JPG
Lewis Jacobs/Sony Pictures Televison

Seth Rogen, during a press conference for "Preacher" before its premiere, explained where the joke came from and its narrative significance: 

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"I think that was Evan's [Goldberg, one of the showrunners] idea," explained Rogen. "You know, this thing is kinda going from religious figure to religious figure trying to find a suitable host and Tom Cruise is a religious figure. And as we were racking our brains for how to keep this idea alive throughout the pilot and we were just thinking of, like, a news story we could be showing to kind of show that this thing was still out there trying to find a host, if you will." 

As Rogen explains, the entity (named Genesis) is searching for a host. Men of faith found unworthy end up shredded to bits by the entity's awesome divine power. 

Rogen says AMC never pressured them to alter the episode to appease either censors or audiences and the joke itself came up on fly.

"I think Evan was like, 'We should try Tom Cruise!' and we were like, 'That would be hilarious!' and I think that’s how the [conversation] went," said Rogen.

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So long as "Preacher" can manage to update the source material while keeping its demented humor intact, fans and newcomers alike will stay faithful to this promising (and profane) new series. 

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