Warning: SPOILERS ahead for Preacher Season 1
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Most of the superhero TV shows have wrapped up for the summer by now, with the CW's Arrowverse, Fox's Gotham and Legion, and Agents of SHIELD all done till the fall season starts up. But for those who like their comic book shows with a little less heroic action and a little more gore, there's one summer show that we're very glad to see back again: Preacher.
This small-screen adaptation of the cult comic book is about to start its second season, and things are getting more than a little bit crazy for Jesse (Dominic Cooper), Tulip (Ruth Negga) and Cassidy (Joseph Gilgun). They're leaving the ruin of Annville with Genesis onboard (inside Jesse), and the trailer for the second season is enough to get anyone excited for the next installment of this trio's adventures. New fans have a little catching up to do before jumping on board for the season 2 roadtrip, though - so we've got everything you need to know before watching the new Preacher this summer.
Season One Basics
The first season of Preacher introduces the audience to Jesse Custer, an alcoholic and disillusioned Preacher in a small town. There, he meets Cassidy, an Irish vampire with an even bigger drinking problem and some mysterious 'people' after him, who takes refuge in the church. Rounding out their little circle is Tulip, Jesse's ass-kicking ex who has some plans of her own when she gets back to town. Early on in the season, Jesse becomes connected to a mysterious force that gives him the power to command others - Genesis. Two angels come to town searching for it, and reveal to Jesse that Genesis is the offspring of an angel and a demon, and potentially the most powerful force in the universe. When it refuses to leave Jesse, and he refuses to die, the angels call on the 'Cowboy' (Graham McTavish), a supernatural being who cannot be killed, to take it from him.
The first season takes place entirely in Annville, the town where Jesse preaches and where he deals with all kinds of secret sinners in the community. The problems within this town aren't going to matter for season 2, however, as the first season ended with its total destruction, leaving only a few survivors to carry on the tale of the Preacher and his power.
Changing The Cult Comic
The first season of the show was very different to the first volume of the comics - and it slowed things down quite a bit. The original series began with Annville's destruction, whereas the series stuck around in this one-horse Texas town for a full ten episodes. The idea behind this change was to give fans a better opportunity to get to know the core characters, and to see the titular Preacher actually, well, preaching! The show also makes some major changes to the character of Tulip - taking a somewhat two-dimensional blonde bimbo in love with Jesse and turning her into a complex, kick-ass woman (who is still in love with Jesse). This slowed-down first season gave everyone a chance to really get to know this version of the characters, and to fall in love with a trio who are not necessarily the most sympathetic at first glance, while still introducing Genesis and the other major players.
In addition, season one mixed in a few storylines from later in the comics, with Odin Quincannon (Jackie Earle Haley) and his disturbing obsession with meat, and Arseface's (Ian Colletti) miserable history. This shows that the series isn't afraid to make some significant changes to the comics, but it makes those changes well - and leaves fans of the original wondering what could happen next.
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Who Survived Season One?
Despite the changes made and the use of season one as something of a prequel to the comic storyline, the season finale dropped the show's golden trio right where the comics begin: with a ruined town behind them and the open road ahead of them.
The total destruction of Annville is a call-out to the comics, but it also served to wipe the cast almost entirely clean. So who survived season 1 and will be showing up again this summer?
- The Golden Trio: Fairly obviously, Jesse, Tulip, and Cassidy all survived the finale and are about to hit the road in season 2.
- Arseface: Surprisingly, it looks like Arseface isn't done yet. In season 1, Jesse sent Eugene to Hell using Genesis, and despite hallucinating his return, things looked bleak for the young Eugene. However, he's reappeared in the trailer for season 2, so he's not done yet.
- Fiore: One of the two angelic custodians of Genesis, Fiore (Tom Brooke) is back in season 2, and looking very lost. His partner, DeBlanc (Anatol Yusef), was killed by the Cowboy when they went to get him to kill Jesse, but it's always possible that this second angel may also return.
- The Cowboy: The final season 1 character who will definitely be making a reappearance is the Cowboy himself, aka the Saint of Killers. Season 1 spent a lot of time on this killer cowboy's backstory, and now he's come to Earth to hunt down Jesse Custer.
Hunting Down God
Season 1 ended when Jesse called 'God' down to earth, and ended up getting a false God created by the angels. After using Genesis to command this apparition to tell the truth, he (and everyone else in the doomed Annville) learn that God is missing, and nobody knows where he is.
Season 2 begins with Jesse, Tulip and Cassidy on the road, and ready to try and hunt down God himself. Jesse wants some answers, and not just about Genesis, but about everything that is so wrong with the world. This is also where the comics really get going, so fans of the books are likely to see a whole lot more of the Preacher they love this season. The show will travel across the country as the trio search out some answers to where God might be. They'll be finding Fiore again, as their primary link to the goings-on in Heaven, and dealing with their own interesting relationship along the way, but that's not all there is to look forward to...
What's Next For Preacher?
While Jesse, Tulip and Cassidy are on the road searching for God, someone is searching for them. The Cowboy that was sent to kill Jesse at the end of season 1 is back on Earth and hunting them down. Presumably, the mysterious vampire-hunters that were alluded to in the first season will also make a reappearance, now that Cassidy has left Annville and is back out in the world. In addition, Herr Starr and the Grail, who were only teased in season 1, are going to be playing a much bigger role in season 2.
It's not clear just how much the series is going to borrow from the books for this second season, and how much they are going to create for the show, but it's clear that this sophomore season is going to be just as brutal, violent, funny and fast-paced as the first - if not even more so.
Preacher season 2 premieres June 25 on AMC at 10 pm EST.