Things Are Looking Very Bleak For The Human Race In The First ‘Good Omens’ Trailer
Starring Frances McDormand as God!
Good Omens, a bizarro divine comedy co-written by fantasy heavy-hitters Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman, is oddly suited for our times.
After all, despite being released almost 30 years ago, Good Omens tackles some distinctly modern preoccupations — namely, how we’re absolutely fucked and are all about to die in a fiery apocalypse.
Now, the end-of-the world comedy is getting the small screen treatment thanks to Gaiman himself — the celebrated author has written every single episode of a new miniseries adaptation of the book, a co-production between Amazon and BBC Two.
The first trailer is a bit of a trip, so if you’re a Good Omens novice, probably best to prepare yourself for the antichrist, a giant squid and a spaceship. Feast your gaze on the madness, and then we’ll meet up again down below.
So! First things first: gotta tip our hat to that cast. There’s Jon Hamm as a particularly sneery Archangel Gabriel; David Tennant as the devious demon Crowley; Michael Sheen as the well-meaning but distinctly useless Aziraphale; Frances McDormand as the voice of God; and ole mate Benedict Cumberbatch himself as the voice of Satan.
Then there’s the matter of authenticity to the book. As one might expect, given that Gaiman oversaw the adaptation himself, the thing looks like about as faithful an adaptation as you can get — rather than being neutered for the sake of a wider mainstream audience, it looks like the more bonkers elements of the book’s plot have been carried right to the screen.
Honestly, if you're bothered by half of the Four Horsemen not being white, you won't want to watch the rest of Good Omens either. We have so many great actors in it who aren't white, playing characters who either were white or weren't given any ethnicity in the book. https://t.co/kBuihm1bqB
— Neil Gaiman (@neilhimself) March 6, 2019
Hence the characterisation of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse as a bunch of off-the-wall sociopaths, and hence the aforementioned giant squids and spaceships.
Whether Good Omens is a complete success remains to be seen. But safe to say, the thing has the distinction of looking like absolutely nothing else on television.
Good Omens premieres on Amazon on May 31.