Preacher Executive Producers Talk Adapting the Controversial Comic Series

Preacher EPs talk adapting the cult comic series

Ever since the comic series Preacher debuted in the mid-90s, an adaptation has been in the cards. Countless filmmakers have worked to bring the story to the big screen but none succeeded. Now, an adaptation of the cult hit will be making its way to television on AMC from executive producers Seth Rogen, Evan Goldberg and Breaking Bad‘s Sam Catlin. Speaking at the Television Critics Association (via THR), the trio spoke about the adaptation and how it won’t be a carbon copy of the comic.

“It didn’t seem at first we should do [deviate from the comic] that way and then we talked to Garth and he encouraged us to make small changes,” Goldberg said. “We want fans who love the comic to get everything they want — but we make twists and turns.”

“[We want viewers to] still be surprised,” Rogen reiterated. “[The closed-ended comic] wouldn’t stretch out to what we hope is a successful series. We’re going to make a show we like and we hope that translates to people who loved the comic as well. Our goal is to make a great, entertaining, fun TV show that if you’ve never heard of the comic book you’ll love.”

Catlin spoke about Easter Eggs in the series, saying the writers are very conscious of what fans expect to see from this particular universe of characters.

“People who know the comics, there are all sorts of Easter eggs throughout it. We’re very conscious of what the Preacher audience is expecting and the mythology they know about. … [We’re going to have] that subterranean dialogue with fans of the comic that doesn’t confuse people coming to the show for the first time.”

“There’s tons of stuff in the comic we hope to include,” Rogen added. “But also hope to subvert lovers of the comic at times and hopefully make them love everything we deliver in the end…To have both those things would be an ideal scenario.”

Published between 1995 and 2000, Preacher tells the story of Jesse Custer, a small town Texas preacher who, nearly at his faith’s end, finds himself merged with a supernatural entity, Genesis, birthed from both an angel and a demon. Imbued with the word of God (the ability to make anyone obey his commands), Jesse hits the road, reunited with his ex-girlfriend, Tulip, and joined by a rowdy Irish vampire, Cassidy, to track down God himself and force him to explain why he abandoned his duties in Heaven.

Dominic Cooper leads the cast that also includes Joseph Gilgun as the vampire Cassidy, Ruth Negga as his gun-toting ex-girlfriend Tulip, Colletti as the kindhearted yet startling Arseface, W. Earl Brown as his father Sheriff Hugo Root, Lucy Griffiths as Emily Woodrow, an original character in the series and love interest of Jesse’s, and Elizabeth Perkins as Vyla Quinncannon, the owner of the local slaughterhouse and a semi-original character. The series is aiming for a mid-2016 television premiere and will make its world premiere at SXSW.