What to Expect in ‘Preacher’ Season 2 Based on the Comics

Samantha Loveridge
TV Comics
TV Comics

It’s a pretty well-known fact that AMC’s Preacher TV series only uses the Preacher comics as inspiration. Although the tone of the outrageously blasphemous graphic novel by Garth Ennis and Steve Dillion has been kept, the producers were forced to make some alterations in order to bring it to your TV screen.

The entirety of the first season of Preacher explores Reverend Jesse Custer’s Annville backstory, but in the comics this plot point is little more than a series of quick flashbacks. The comics actually start with meeting Jesse, his ex-girlfriend Tulip and the blood-sucking vampire Cass sitting in the diner en route to literally finding God, which is where the trio end up at the end of season one.

Preacher Season 2

Despite some pretty big plot deviations between the TV series and the comics, there are certainly major plot points that will remain the same. With Preacher season two on the way on June 25 on AMC and Amazon Prime, it’s time to start sifting through comics to see if there are any indications as to what to expect in the TV series.

Here are our predictions for the six biggest themes of Preacher season two.

Spoiler warning: If you haven’t caught up with the first season of Preacher, look away now!

A Road Trip

The entirety of the first season of Preacher takes place in Annville, Texas, and it’s not until the final episode when the methane pressure levels at Quincannon Meat and Power (QM&P) cause a town-destroying explosion that Jessie, Cass and Tulip are (thankfully) on their way out.

It’s then that the trio begin their quest to “find God” and Cass brings up the idea of a road trip.

“Like a road trip?” he says to Jesse. “With buckets of guns, sex and drugs and shady characters dressed in bikinis?”

Tulip isn’t quite convinced though.

“I’m sorry, we’re just gonna drive around shooting people, getting wasted, looking for God?”

Preacher road trip

But unfortunately for Tulip, this is pretty much the whole premise of the comics. The fact that the series’ first season stayed in one town isn’t very authentic to the comics. A lot of the action happens while they’re in the car, roaming around the American countryside in search of the big man himself.

And from the looks of the Preacher season two trailer it’s looking very likely that the next season will have much more of a road trip feel.

The Saint of Killers

Preacher Saint of Killers

The Saint of Killers actually plays quite a large part in season one of Preacher, but unless you’ve read the comics you won’t know quite how dangerous this fellow is. You might think he looks like some old cowboy dude with a penchant for revenge after the murder of his wife and daughter, but his rage goes far, far deeper than that.

In the comics, the Saint of Killers ends up not being able to take out the man who killed his family and dying himself instead. But, his rage and lust for revenge are so great that his presence in Hell causes it to start freezing over.

“He’s got a soul so damn cold an’ rattlesnake-mean, Satan himself threw him back outta Hell,” reads a quote about him in the comics.

Yes, that’s right, the Devil himself can’t tame him either, so he gives the Saint a pair of guns forged from the sword of the Angel of Death. Yeah, those aren’t just any pistols…

Saint of Killers Preacher TV show

He goes back to Earth in order to give Death a break, but was so efficient that Heaven locked him away until they needed to use him again. Obviously, he’s now being sent after Jesse in order to kill him and get Genesis back to Heaven.

With that kind of bloodlust and history behind him, it’s safe to say that the Saint of Killers is going to present quite a problem for Jesse and co.

Herr Starr and The Grail

Herr Starr Preacher comics

If you think the Saint of Killers will be the only problem Jesse and the crew face, you’re mistaken. There’s another chap who could well pose a serious problem to the Reverend in Preacher season two. And that’s Herr Starr.

Once a soldier in the German Wehrmacht, Herr Starr’s devotion to fighting ‘evil’ drew the attention of a secret organisation called The Grail, or Grail Industries. He quickly rose to power and was crowned the Sacred Executioner, but his real aim is to obtain The Grail’s highest power and become the Allfather. As you’d expect from a man like this, he eventually gets exactly what he wants. But it’s before all that happens that he fixes his sights on Jesse.

It seems Jesse has come to his attention because of his direct command of the word of God. The Grail and Herr Starr want that power and they think they need Jesse in order to get it. As the Grail believe they’re descendants and direct bloodline of Jesus himself, you can imagine why they’re a little irked by Jesse’s newfound celestial connection.

The Man in White Preacher TV show

Herr Starr doesn’t actually appear until issue 13 of the Preacher comics, but he’s actually visible very briefly in episode three of the Preacher TV series. Tulip sees the name Grail Industries on some paperwork that changes hands between her and a mysterious woman known only as Danni, whom she meets in Houston. It’s after this that you first see The Man in White, aka Herr Starr.

It could well be that Starr and his cronies are the main antagonists for Preacher season two because although the Saint of Killers is on the prowl, it’s Starr and The Grail that cause direct problems for Jesse and co.

Eugene Root (Arseface)

Eugene Assface Preacher

In season one of the TV show, Jesse underestimates the power of Genesis and accidentally banishes poor Eugene Root  – aka Arseface – to hell. In AMC’s version of Preacher, he’s a kind, wise and utterly loveable character who seeks the guidance and support of Jesse and unfortunately ends up getting punished for it.

But in the comics, Arseface is a punk rocker who is looking for vengeance and to tell his story to anyone who’ll listen. He goes on a road trip with Jesse, Tulip and Cass, the latter of which helps him lose his virginity in New Orleans. Arseface even gets his own record deal and rockets to the pinnacle of fame and power, causing a wave of suicides as his fans attempted to emulate his shotgun to the face “look”.

Eugene Preacher TV

With the amount of screen time Eugene got in season one, you’re bound to see him return in Preacher season two. Perhaps he’ll return from hell and follow a story arc similar to that of the comics. After all, who wouldn’t want to see Arseface find love – or at least lust?

Jesse’s family

Reverend Custer Preacher TV series
Reverend Custer Senior has seen better days

Although you don’t yet know a lot about Jesse’s father in the Preacher TV series, what you do know is that he was murdered and Jesse had to watch the whole thing. We don’t yet know why or by whom he was killed, but it’s obviously had quite an effect on Jesse and the events in his life.

It could well be that Preacher season two delves more into what happened to Jesse’s dad, who the two men were that killed him and the reasons they had to do it.

But, unless the TV series deviates wildly from the comics, you should expect to see a few other members of Jesse’s family popping up too. One of the most interesting characters from the comics is Jesse’s grandmother, Marie L’Angelle, who’s a Christian fanatic and actually sends her own bodyguard to kill Jesse’s dad because he left home after promising not to.

Marie L’Angelle Preacher TV

In the comics, Jesse’s dad isn’t a preacher though, so there are some kinks to work out there in the TV show. However, Jesse’s violent redneck family could be quite a feature in Preacher season two if the comics are anything to go by.

Samantha Loveridge
Sam is the UK Gaming Editor at Fandom. She's been addicted to games since she first got her paws on a GameBoy and hasn't looked back.