You may not have heard of "Preacher," the series of Vertigo graphic novels from the late '90s penned by author Garth Ennis. But among the comic faithful, it's infamous for its explicit gore, brutal depictions of sex and debauchery, ink-black humor, and a shockingly anti-religious stance throughout its legendary 66-issue run.
And after a decade of failed attempts, it's finally being adapted. But the question on fans' minds is: How much will showrunners Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg be able to leave in?
At a press conference Thursday to promote the May 22 debut of "Preacher" on AMC, Rogen told the press fans will be pleasantly surprised at how faithful they were to the original material.
"So far, we’ve been allowed to do everything. You can’t say f---, but aside from that it’s truly unbelievable," he told reporters. "I would read the scripts as a fan of the comics [and] if anything I'm like, 'Wow. They got that in there? I did not think that would work.'"
The original "Preacher" series followed Jesse Custer, played onscreen by Dominic Cooper, a fallen man of faith on a quest to literally find and confront God. The mix of repulsive illustrations with a surprisingly nuanced conversation on faith is why the comics are still held in such high regard.
But will TV audiences respond to either?
"I think the comic itself is a little more decidedly anti-religion than the show is," Rogen said. "The show, it doesn’t even have an opinion on it, at this point anyway. It more has characters who have opinions on it. The show itself is not really damning any idea specifically, it’s really just trying to explore that. The comic from the get-go has slightly more an agenda that we did not include."
The show adaptation may not be as stridently anti-theist as the comics (yet), but that doesn't mean it's pulling any punches. Each of the main cast — Jesse, his girlfriend Tulip (Ruth Negga), and best friend Cassidy (Joseph Gilgun) — have savage fight scenes in the pilot. Cassidy's fight scene has the most carnage: he impales an assailant with a broken champagne bottle before funneling his spurting blood into a bottle. All while big band jazz blasts in the background.
And while the extreme violence, extreme sex, extreme antitheism, or any combination of the three may offend audiences, Rogen shrugs off fears of the "Preacher" being too controversial.
"My barometer for controversy has been so drastically readjusted over the last few years that a few angry tweets don't even register on my Richter scale anymore," Rogen laughs. "So unless a world leader is condemning me, then I’m not too worried. A few angry nerds don’t bother me. If you have nuclear weapons, then I’m a little worried."
"Preacher" airs Sundays on AMC at 10 p.m. EST.
