In recent years, The Boys TV series has become a fan-favorite. A huge factor in Garth Ennis’ brainchild becoming immensely popular is the epic adaptation of the comic in the Amazon Prime Video show.
However, years before The Boys comic book, Garth Ennis wrote another graphic novel, Preacher. Speaking of Preacher, the comic book was apparently in talks to receive a movie adaptation with James Bond: Skyfall director Sam Mendes at the helm. However, the director ultimately decided to stay away from the project.
Sam Mendes Explained Why He Didn’t Direct Preacher Movie
Sam Mendes is most widely known for his direction in Daniel Craig’s two James Bond movies, Skyfall and Spectre. However, the British director showcased his talent with his first-ever film, American Beauty, as he won the Best Director award at the 2000 Oscars.
Anyway, before agreeing to be the director for the 2012 flick Skyfall, Mendes was in talks to direct the movie adaptation of Garth Ennis’ comic book series Preacher. Mendes revealed the reason behind turning down the project in a 2012 interview with Slash Film.
Preacher is much more real world, it’s more of a Southern Gothic with elements of the fantastic in it; it’s a quite difficult thing to balance. So it wasn’t just that I sort of walked away from it because they wouldn’t pay for it or anything like that, it was because I couldn’t really make it work, I couldn’t find a way of defining what it was onscreen. My strong suspicion is someone will come along who has a really good take on it and is able to do it.
As mentioned in the above-attached excerpt, Mendes simply felt like he couldn’t figure out a way to do justice to the brilliant graphic novel.
Although Mendes decided not to involve himself with Preacher, AMC released a four-season TV show adaptation of the graphic novel in 2016. Despite twisting several key aspects from Ennis’ comic book, the 2016 TV adaptation remains popular among fans.
Why Preacher is More Controversial Than The Boys?
Garth Ennis is known for writing some of the most controversial comic books of all time. However, if fans think The Boys is his most messed up series, they cannot be more wrong. Preacher is widely regarded as Ennis’ best work of his career.
A key reason behind it is the unfiltered take on the religious aspects of the society. Speaking of which, Preacher comic books feature every controversial thing that fans can imagine. From pedophilia and zoophilia to an a**hole version of God being a literal villain in the society.
Moreover, it goes without saying that the comic book series is full of violence, and if you are planning to read it, get ready to see blood on every other page.
While The Boys has its fair share of violent moments, they fade in comparison to what Preacher has in store. Oh, and did we forget to mention that some characters are extremely racist in the Preacher comics?
