Mark Millar’s graphic novel trilogy American Jesus comes to the screen and to a new Mexican setting in the series adaptation.
Graphic novels have long led to inspired adaptations for film and television that bring to life — and to new audiences — stories made popular on the page. Celebrated Scottish comic book writer Mark Millar is no stranger to the magic of adaptation, having had several of his works developed into acclaimed live-action and animated features and series under the Millarworld brand, including Kick-Ass and Kingsman.
Now Millarworld’s graphic novel trilogy American Jesus, co-created by writer Millar and artist Peter Gross, makes its onscreen debut. The series, to be released as The Chosen One (El Elegido), tells the story of Jodie (Bobby Luhnow), a 12-year-old boy who survives a freak accident and soon learns he has powers like those of Jesus Christ. He has the ability to turn water into wine, heal those with disabilities, and maybe even raise the dead. Jodie must deal with his destiny while leading the world through a conflict that has been brewing for millennia.
Jodie (Bobby Luhnow)
Wagner (Alberto Pérez Jácome), Tuka (Juan Fernando González), Jodie (Bobby Luhnow), Hipólito (Jorge Javier Arballo Osornio), and Magda (Lilith Amelie Siordia)
Hipólito (Jorge Javier Arballo Osornio) and Jodie (Bobby Luhnow)
While the books are set in the United States, the series moves the story to Mexico, bringing new cultural touchstones to the tale. Millar was excited by the idea of relocating the narrative: “All my favorite Netflix shows have been coming from the international team these past few years,” he says. “The global talent pool is vast, but it’s the Spanish language shows that have just been blowing me away on a consistent basis. When they requested American Jesus from our library I knew we had something special coming. Relocating this story from the book’s [original setting in] Middle America down into Mexico makes it unlike anything else out there right now. It’s vibrantly beautiful, but the mythological aspects just seem so authentic in this culture, the apocalyptic basis for the story just all the more real.”
The Chosen One, helmed by director Everardo Gout (The Forever Purge) and starring newcomer Luhnow, Dianna Agron (Glee), and Tenoch Huerta (Narcos: Mexico, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever), focuses on the first book of the American Jesus trilogy, which was originally published in 2004. Now, almost 20 years later, one of Millarworld’s beloved tales will come to Netflix, just as Millar and Gross bring Jodie’s story to an end. “After 19 years we finally finished the third and last book in the series,” says Millar. “Happy to have this whole thing done before the real Jesus comes back.”
All interviews included in this piece were completed prior to July 14, 2023.
