The first trailer for Good Omens has dropped from the heavens (well, Amazon), and promises a delightfully good time. The series is based on the 1990 novel Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett, with Gaiman writing the script for the six-part miniseries. The great Terry Pratchett died in 2015.
Good Omens centers on the angel Aziraphale (Michael Sheen), and the demon Crowley (David Tennant), who have been frenemies fighting for opposite sides since the dawn of time. Now, they must band together to try to stop the impending apocalypse. While previous teasers have shown us only Sheen and Tennant, this one expands the world and gives us a glimpse of Heaven, the anti-Christ, and the various celestial cogs in the wheel working towards the apocalypse.
We meet head Archangel Gabriel (Jon Hamm), who insists that there has to be a war, “otherwise how would we win it?”, as well as Adam (Sam Taylor Buck), the 11-year old anti-Christ who has been misplaced by Aziraphale and Crowley.
The trailer also introduces the Four Horseman of the Apocalypse: War (The Killing‘s Mireille Enos), Famine (The Originals‘ Yusuf Gatewood), Pollution (Knightfall‘s Lourdes Faberes), and Death. The series boasts an impressive cast, which includes Frances McDormand and Benedict Cumberbatch as the voices of God and the devil, respectively.
We also get a glimpse at the other players in the war, Anathema Device (Person of Interest‘s Adria Arjona), and Newton Pulsifer (Bad Education‘s Jack Whitehall) star-crossed humans who are working to stop the apocalypse. The cast is jam-packed with talent, including Nick Offerman, Michael McKean, Miranda Richardson, Anna Maxwell Martin, and Derek Jacobi. All six episodes are directed by Douglas Mackinnon (Doctor Who), in a co-production from Amazon Prime and BBC Two.
The series appears to be cut from the same cloth as The Good Place and Miracle Workers, both of which highlight the bureaucracy and absurdity of the afterlife and the imperfect forces at play in the universe. It’s no surprise then that these shows are coming out at a time when the world seems perpetually on the brink of disaster and the news is beyond satire and parody. Things may be a mess on Earth, but don’t worry, they’re just as screwed up in the beyond!
In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Tennant said of the series, “It’s such a unique world that [Gaiman] and Terry have created … If anyone else had taken it on, I don’t think we could have captured the real quirky essence of it.”
Good Omens premieres May 31 on Amazon Prime. The book has a lot of fans—what do you think of the first trailer?
(via Indiewire, image: screencap)
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