A new promo for Preacher, which premieres on AMC this month, offers a peek at the series' dark humor and violent nature.
The sneak peek by Entertainment Tonight introduces two government agents who are on the trail of Jesse Custer after a series of strange events occur in his wake. In the video, they're calling back to the home office, where they discuss a "slight, massive security breach."
Those familiar with the Preacher comics won't recognize these characters, though, because they only exist on the television show. But it seems that they fit in well with the Preacher universe created onscreen.
The trailer displays the dry wit that comic book fans will expect from the series, as well as the supernatural violence that goes along with the story of Jesse, who starts out as a small-town Texas preacher, but eventually becomes possessed by a supernatural being that is part angel and part demon.
Preacher comes courtesy of Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg, who are probably more known for comedies such as Superbad than scripted drama, but if this trailer is any indication, they just might hit the right beat between humor and drama with Preacher, which does have its comedic moments, as demonstrated here.
This clip is just a taste of the twisted violence fans can expect, too. Actor Dominic Cooper, who portrays Jesse, recently explained that fans of the Preacher comics will get even more of the weird violence that Jesse is capable of, the kind of stuff practically ripped from the pages of the comic books.
"It's shocking what happens," Cooper said to Screen Crush. "I've just read one where I was like, 'Oh my god.' I've been playing this guy thinking everything he does is good, that it's all from a good place. But something just happened in one I just read where it's like, oh no, you are nasty. You are, you are, you are ... that is a nasty move."
But fans will also see a different side to the character: the side that exists before his transformation into the half-angel and half-demon thing.
"It's almost like we're seeing him [in the pilot] before the comics, so he's quite damaged at the beginning," Cooper said. "Looking back at this now and seeing what else we've done and what else we've worked on, I see a damaged man. He's almost given up. He tries and tries, but only to a point. He doesn't really try. He has a bit of a go at it and realizes he's just a bit of a drunk idiot. We are who we are, and he just kind of gives up. And that changes dramatically."
Preacher premieres on AMC on May 22.
