Saturday afternoon, the masterminds behind the AMC series Preacher came together at the Austin convention center to discuss season two of the hit series. The TV show is based off of the graphic novel series of the same name.
“We pursued it for years and years and years,” Seth Rogen said. “The project landed in other people’s hands who couldn’t quite bring it to life and we were just kind of the people who were left.”
Preacher follows the story of a young priest from West Texas who becomes possessed by a half demon, half angel baby named “Genesis.” He journeys with his ex-girlfriend and vampire best friend across the world in search of God, who fled heaven when Genesis was born. The series is known for its graphic, adult content and dark humor.
Considering the series’ violent nature and the fact that the story takes place on multiple continents, many thought the story would be impossible to adapt to the small screen. Rogen said that the changing landscape of television from mindless Friday night entertainment to a creative platform for innovation was essential to Preacher’s conception.
“TV had caught up with comics,” Garth Ennis, the author of Preacher said. “Now, you can do all the things that you couldn’t before.”
During the talk, a teaser for the second season of Preacher was screened. It promises to be even more bloody and shocking than the first.
“I watch the show and and I am blown away by what we are able to put on television,” Rogen said. “Not frustrated by what we are not able to put on television. We are not holding back on the content we want to put out there.”
Rogen and Ennis are both no strangers to creating content that stirs up controversy. However, they are both determined to put out the truest visions of their art out into the world.
“You can’t always do something just for the sake of doing it,” Rogen said. “It has to feel like it’s born of character, story and emotion. We try to push it to the most original place that we can really. I think originality is the beacon that calls people.”
