Preacher, based on the Vertigo comic book series created by Garth Ennis and Steve Dillon, makes it’s small screen debut on Sunday, May 22 and is a curious mix of the supernatural, religion, and the wild west. Dominic Cooper (Captain America: First Avenger, Marvel’s Agent Carter) stars as Jesse Custer, a preacher with a mysterious power and an affinity for booze. Custer’s return home is met with some resistance by those who are aware of his turbulent past and when he’s joined by his ex-girl friend Tulip O’Hare and Cassidy, an Irish vagabond, they are catapulted into a bizarre world inhabited by denizens from the gates of Heaven and Hell.
Preacher’s pilot is irreverent with quirky characters, good action scenes, a fair amount of gore and enough black humor to keep audiences entertained. It’s a solid introduction into the Preacher universe and feels like a supernatural western that’s been infused with a touch of the X-Files and David Lynch’s Twin Peaks. Things get off to a bloody start when an extraterrestrial force finds its way to Earth. The entity’s attempts to find a suitable host set the tone for the level of gore and type of humor audiences can expect from the series. The acting is solid, with Cooper’s turn as Preacher somewhat more restrained than audiences are used to seeing from him. Joe Gilgun’s motor mouth performance as Cassidy and Ruth Negga’s quirky but no-nonsense Tulip round out an interesting supporting cast. There’s something new for fans of the comic as the television series introduces new characters into the Preacher narrative. Joining regular Preacher characters such as Sherrif Root (W. Earl Brown), Arseface (Ian Colletti), Odin Quincannon (Jackie Earle Haley), Fiore (Tom Brook) and deBlanc (Anatol Yusef) are church lady Emily (Lucy Griffiths), Donnie (Derek Wilson) and members of the town and Custer’s small congregation.
Developed by Seth Rogan and Even Goldberg, Preacher deviates a little from the source material and lags somewhat after the pilot episode. The series captures the pace of small town Texas, but it’s a bit too faithful to it. Things don’t pick up again until Episode 2 but even then the momentum isn’t enough to rival the promise of the pilot. Hopefully showrunner Sam Catlin (Breaking Bad), Rogan and Goldberg will quicken the pace a little and incorporate more of their bizarre sensibilities and humor in upcoming episodes.
