What you need to know:
‘American Jesus’ is one of the most controversial works of Mark Millar, creator of iconic comics. And taking advantage of the fact that Netflix will premiere the adaptation of this story under the title of ‘The Chosen One’, here we bring you some curious facts about the comic.
When we think of comics, most probably think of comics about superheroes in suits and with powers that fight evil. However, there is another class of stories that go beyond what has been established for years. Such is the case of American Jesusa plot that completely breaks out of the known mold and presents us with quite terrifying ideas.
It was in 2004 when Mark Millar and Peter Gross released this comic, under the title of chosen. However, with the passage of time and to make life easier for the reader, they decided to gather all the comics in a couple of volumes that they titled American Jesuswhich tell us about the journey of Jodie, a boy who, after an accident, discovers that he has the same abilities as Jesus Christ.
Here we leave you 5 facts that you may not have known about the comic ‘American Jesus’
For almost two decades, the creators of American Jesus they worked on the comic, taking Jodie’s story to places readers never imagined. However, the fans who actively followed this comic they had to wait a long time to know the outcome of the plot, which (without spoilers) ends with a completely epic and satisfying ending.
We know that here we have fans from hell of this project by Mark Millar and Peter Gross, and perhaps they are excited – like us – with the live action version of this comic, because Netflix will release an adaptation called The chosen one based on these comics. That is why Here we bring you 5 facts that you may not have known about American Jesus.
‘American Jesus’ was one of the first comics that Mark Millar published on his own
After years working for the big comic book houses, like Marvel and DC, Mark Millar decided to found his own label, Millarworld. Although the first comic he launched independently was SE busca, The next to reach the market under this new model was American Jesuswho was already cooking with Peter Gross.
To give you an idea of how important this stamp is, through Millarworld, Mark published some of the most famous and important comics by that authorwhich have also been adapted for film and television, as kick ass, Kingsman: Secret Service and Jupiter’s Legacy. Although this might not have been possible without American Jesus.
The public managed to continue the story of ‘American Jesus’… 15 years later
Originally, Millarworld published the comic of chosen together with the publisher Dark Horse Comics between February and August of the year 2004. At the time, both Mark Millar and Peter Gross were unclear as to whether they would continue with the story. However, given the success of the story and the fame that Millar achieved, it was announced that they would continue with the plot, collecting the first three volumes under the name of American Jesus.
to the first volume of American Jesus they subtitled it Book I (first book), implying that at some point, Mark and Peter would pick up the story. But it took 16 years for them to resume the plot… as they read it. It was until 2020 when the continuation of the story appeared and finally, in 2023 it had its outcome. Although If it had not been for the insistence of the fans, it is most likely that this comic would never have had a closure..
‘American Jesus’ is Mark Millar’s most controversial story
Throughout his career, Mark Millar has been characterized by creating stories that touch on issues that make us question many things and that put their protagonists in moral dilemmas. However, with American Jesushe took all this to the next level, because by having all the creative freedom, he put together a story that gave something to talk about due to the historical character on which it was based.
In this “modern version” of Jesus Christ, Mark Millar wonders what a person would have done today if they had the abilities that the so-called ‘son of God’ supposedly had.‘. As expected, fans who loved the story showed up, but some people also came out to complain about it, especially an ultra-Catholic and Christian sector, who screamed to heaven when they read the comic.
Fortunately, things did not get worse, but there is no doubt that American Jesus It is one of the most controversial and controversial works of Mark Millar’s career.Well, in the middle of the 21st century, it touched the sensitive fibers of some people who blindly believe in the return of Jesus to Earth.
‘American Jesus’ Author Didn’t Want to Anger Believers
As we mentioned in the previous point, American Jesus is perhaps one of Mark Millar’s most controversial comics. However, although he criticizes and questions the faith, in reality the author did not seek to anger Catholic or Christian believers. On the contrary, he hoped that they would like this story.
When asked about the negative comments American Jesus received, thousand stated in an interview that he did not write the story with the intention of embarrassing or passing on the courage of life to his religious readers. Furthermore, he made it clear that as a catholic, he liked what he created in this comic.
“It’s actually very reverential, it’s like if I write a Spider-Man comic, I want Spider-Man fans to like that comic… if I write a story featuring Jesus, I want Christians to like that comic. Sometimes you get stories about religion, mainly to attack religion (…) It is something that if you are a Christian, it will not make you happy. So the ‘American Jesus’ comic is something that Catholics would like. As a Catholic, I liked it. You know, a priest said an introduction to the book.”
Mark Millar sold him the rights to the Netflix story
To close with this list of facts that you may not have known about the comic of American Jesuswe have one that you probably did not know, because believe it or not, Netflix owns the rights to both this comic and the most recent works by Mark Millar.
In 2017, the streaming giant bought Millarworld, and with this move it kept the rights to bring Mark Millar’s comics to the small screen.Yes, under the supervision of the creator himself. Since then, Netflix premiered the series Jupiter’s Legacybut now the live action adaptation of American Jesus, which promises to be one of the platform’s most important productions by 2023.
