Preacher is in contention for the best comic book ever made. Hyper violent, pitch black humor, a scathing critique on Christianity, and a cast of characters that are old school rough-and-tumble lovable. It’s been set up to be turned into a TV show over at AMC, and the people behind it aren’t too shabby. Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg are executive producing and writing the pilot, and Sam Caitlin (Breaking Bad) will be showrunner. AMC is going to need something big to replace the void that Mad Men will be leaving behind, and it’s obvious that Preacher will be attempting to attract some of that The Walking Dead audience. I guess it’s going to be the fun comic book show as opposed to The Walking Dead‘s relentless and boring grimness.
The lead of the story is Jesse Custer, a disillusioned preacher who is possessed by a being called Genesis. This being gives Jesse the power to make people do whatever he says (this power is called The Word), and Jesse is going to use this newfound ability to track down God, who has abandoned his throne in Heaven and his responsibilities to his creations.
According to The Tracking Board, Howard Stark himself, Dominic Cooper, has emerged as the frontrunner for the role of Jesse Custer. I’ve only experienced Cooper as Howard Stark, and while he’s certainly enjoyable in that role, I don’t have a whole lot else to go on with this possibility. He certainly looks the part, and there’s something poetically appropriate in casting a non-American actor to play a proud Texan, since Preacher was written by the viciously Irish Garth Ennis.
If Stephen King’s It is the film that I want to succeed the most, Preacher is the television show that I want to succeed the most. The source material really is outstanding, and I’m hoping that AMC uses their clout to let loose with the violence and other deliciously offensive material.
What say you, Chewers? Can you see Dominic Cooper as Jesse Custer? Do you have a better idea for casting? Who should play Custer’s soulmate, Tulip O’Hare? And what about his best friend and creature of the night, Cassidy? The comments and forums need to know!