AMC officially announced the return of "Preacher" was slated for June 19. The show was a newcomer last year, but enjoyed a decent uptick in ratings upon the finish of its first season. Acting as a prequel of sorts to its titular source material, "Preacher" was praised for its dive into the fictional town of Annville and its collection of off-kilter residents that Jesse Custer encountered.
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The first season set plenty of things in motion for the preacher and his friends to encounter during their road trip to literally find God. Some characters were at a crossroads, while others were pounding the pavement following Jesse and crew. We at CBR have a few things in mind that we'd like to see in the upcoming episodes.
CAUTION: MULTIPLE SPOILERS AHEAD FOR SEASON ONE OF "PREACHER."
15 MULTIPLE LOCALES
As Jesse, Tulip and Cassidy came to the revelation that God is no longer in Heaven and has disappeared, the trio decided to go on a road trip to find him. The group left the town of Annville, Texas where most of the first season's action took place. The town then blew up in a catastrophic methane explosion, leaving all of the characters with no reason to go back.
With the setting of Texas being a great and fitting start for "Preacher," the show is ready for a change of scenery. Even when Tulip made her brief trips to Albuquerque or Houston to invest in some side-plot points, it was a refreshing break from the purposefully dull look of Annville. Now that the characters are on a mission, but unsure of the exact destination, it would be great to see them visit multiple locales in their quest to find God. While it might be too early for them while trucking to San Francisco, we certainly hope they don't spend the brunt of Season 2 only one state over.
14 JESUS DESADE
Jesus DeSade was a full-time hedonist in the "Preacher" comics. The character was confronted by the group when Cassidy had tracked a drug dealer to his residence in the midst of a crazy party. The group was bemused by the insane amount promiscuity to be found at DeSade's place, before Jesse snapped at finding a young boy on the premise (presumably for a porn shoot). The preacher loses it on DeSade and rains down furious vengeance in the form of his fists colliding with the deplorable's face until he was left a bloody pulp.
In the first season, Jesse certainly ran into an eclectic assortment of characters. There was the creepy meat-worshiping Odin Quincannon, the BDSM-loving housewife, Betsy Schenck, and the disturbed sheriff, Hugo Root, just to name a few. Now that they've all been wiped out by the aforementioned methane blast, it's high time for them to meet some new people. Although it would be pretty early to see him, DeSade's extremely hedonistic lifestyle (as well as his brutal beat down) would make for a perfectly disturbing encounter in the new season, similar to Linus' encounter in the last one.
13 FALLOUT FROM ANNVILLE
Given that the first season of "Preacher" introduced a lot of interesting characters, it's a shame to see pretty much all of them were wiped from the map in the finale. With the exception of Eugene, who was banished to Hell, everyone Jesse knew in his old town was killed. Hopefully this doesn't mean that the preacher remains blissfully unaware of the entirety of Annville going up in flames.
Jesse spent a good amount of time earning the support of Annville's citizens during his time as a preacher there. His relationship with Emily Woodrow, who served as a voice of reason for the rapidly spiralling man of God, had a lot of impact behind it, among many others. For all his toiling in trying to improve the town and be a better preacher for them, it would be a real disappointment if he simply disregards Annville's destruction with the rest of the morning news. It would be nice to see mentions of his activities or even regrets from the old town come up throughout the new season as Jesse and his friends investigate fresh places in search of God.
12 HEAVEN MOBILIZING
Two angels by the name of Fiore and DeBlanc were trusted with guarding Genesis and keeping it secret. Once it broke free and inhabited Jesse, the two feared that Heaven would get wind of their mistake. Custer found himself caught in a brawl between the angels and a Seraphim in efforts to recover the creature. Finally Jesse used the angel's direct line to Heaven to call God and forced an angel to admit that the almighty has left his domain.
It would stand to reason now that Heaven had to spill the beans on God being out of office, plenty of the higher ups would be getting in gear. Should the news make it to unfavorable parties, it's likely the angels will be running into more problems now that the secret's out. In addition, they've also been made aware that the powerful Genesis is no longer imprisoned, but rather attached to a preacher in some podunk town no less. The Seraphim was a great start to Heaven's reach in earthly affairs, so it would be much improved to see the angels with a more involved role.
11 FIORE'S NEXT MOVE
DeBlanc and Fiore were sent scrambling when Genesis escaped its coffee can of a domicile and embedded itself inside of Jesse Custer. After multiple attempts to recover the spawn failed, the two decided to travel to Hell in order to gain assistance in killing the preacher. The person they approached was in actuality the Saint of Killers, which promptly dispatched DeBlanc and demanded details from Fiore. When all was said and done, Fiore returned to Annville completely deflated after the turn of events.
Even if Fiore was caught in the wake of Annville's destruction, he would still presumably reinvigorate and be fine. The character was only particularly attached to DeBlanc and likely feels that this turn of events resulting in his death is Jesse's fault. Given that Fiore himself ordered the death of the preacher, it wouldn't be so far out to think that he might follow his hired assassin to see the job through. At the very least, it would be interesting to view if he returned to Heaven at all after everything that's happened.
10 REAVER CLEAVER
In the comics, Si Coltrane was an investigative reporter that had inside scoops to stories on a mysterious serial killer named Reaver Cleaver. The murderer was running rampant in New York City and covered a little too well by Coltrane, because the two are one and the same. Of course a guy this screwed up would be a friend of Cassidy's, and so the vampire brings Jesse to him for help with finding God.
Now that in the show the trio are officially looking for The Almighty in physical form, it would stand to reason that they might need some assistance. Introducing Coltrane at this point in the show would be perfect. He could function as part of Jesse's overarching purpose in the new season, and also serve as a bit of an insight into Cassidy's somewhat sordid past. If that's not enough, getting a glimpse into Reaver Cleaver's oddly mutual dual professions would probably be interesting to see portrayed on the small screen.
9 TULIP, JESSE AND CASSIDY LOVE TRIANGLE
As Tulip continued to struggle in convincing Jesse to return to his old ways and get revenge on their ex-partner Carlos, she turned to Cassidy for temporary reprieve. The two hooked up, unbeknownst to Jesse, while the vampire later realized that Tulip was Custer's serious ex-girlfriend. Tulip developed a fondness for Cassidy, taking care of him after he was badly burnt in the sun, but the two never spoke of their sleeping together with Jesse.
Cassidy having feelings for Tulip is definitely a piece from the comics and the "Preacher" TV series is well on its way to establishing it. Now that Jesse and Tulip have appeared to rekindle their relationship, Cassidy acting as a third wheel is sure to have some consequences. Even though it was scuttled fairly quickly in the initial season, building upon this love triangle of sorts in the second round would make for great drama.
8 THE GRAIL
Even the "Preacher" comic book wasn't immune to the trope of having evil secret societies lurking in the shadows. The Grail was one such group that had tasked itself with maintaining and protecting the bloodline of Jesus Christ. The organization was filled to the brim with corrupt members including a pseudo-papacy, as well as an armed military force. The group had planned to create a nuclear war and introduce their descendant of Jesus Christ as the new messiah, hurtling them to an all-encompassing level of power. Their plans were of course derailed permanently when Jesse Custer and his Voice hit the scene.
The television adaptation hasn't full-on debuted the existence of the Grail as an organization, but it did have a small hint towards it. In the beginning episodes of Season 1, Tulip is seen dispatching unknown thugs in order to obtain a document to trade for info on Carlos. The paper in question is labeled "Property of Grail Industries." While this isn't a huge splash for the organization within the TV space, hopefully we'll get to see the Grail in motion in Season 2 and dive properly into the twisted levels of corruption it held in the comics.
7 TULIP'S TIME AWAY FROM JESSE
When viewers were introduced to Tulip O'Hare, she was a badass woman who was building bazookas out of junk and killing henchmen for breakfast. Later on, audiences got to see some of her early relationship with Jesse as childhood friends, and a little bit later on, we saw their fateful heist gone wrong. Tulip has ties to Annville from her childhood, but traveled a lot in search of Carlos to carry out her revenge.
Still though, there are a lot of gaps in Tulip's history. Her character has some very obvious hangups that go well beyond her relationship with Jesse Custer, but her story was largely revolving around him for the first season. Viewers saw very little of her outside of this, but as with her incredibly violent tendencies and crazy temper, there's definitely more going on here. If the second season could take a moment or two to dive into some of these gaps in time for O'Hare, her character would undoubtedly feel a little less two-dimensional in her motivations.
6 ARSEFACE ESCAPING HELL
In the show, Eugene Root badly disfigured his face when he attempted to kill a girl with a shotgun for turning him down, and then tried to commit suicide. As Arseface lives with the guilt and bullying for his actions, Jesse took pity on him and commanded folks in the town to forgive the teen. Eugene later asked him to turn back the change, as he felt that it was "cheating" to get forgiveness in such a way. Enraged, Jesse commands Arseface to go to Hell, and is shocked when the boy suddenly disappears.
His accidental banishment of Eugene to Hell wreaked havoc on the preacher, and he was haunted by visions of the teen during the last episodes of the first season. Jesse promised he would find a way to bring Eugene back to earth in the last episode. Whether he follows through or Arseface claws his way back himself, we hope to see the character return in full form this season.
5 CASSIDY'S BACKSTORY
Season one saw Jesse Custer becoming fast friends with his vampiric freeloader/maintenance man, Cassidy. Most of the first episodes were dedicated to the preacher understanding his newfound power to command people and using it to revitalize Annville's faithful, so Cassidy took a bit of a step back. The vampire had a brief run in with the town sheriff, Hugo Root, as the officer was attempting to locate his lost son, Eugene. Root had dug up Cassidy's arrest records, dating back several decades. The sheriff runs through them all, including an attempted murder on the vampire's part.
Unfortunately, this is the extent of Cassidy's backstory within the show that audiences were privy to. From the pilot, it was obvious that the vampire has built up a reputation and earned the scorn of several powerful parties, but this story element has yet to be dived into. The character has received only a hint of his true nature in the form of some throwaway exposition. A proper fleshing out of his past (either through his connections or flashbacks), is something that could really add to the character dynamic next season.
4 WHO KILLED JESSE'S DAD
Another thing that Jesse seems fairly haunted by (there are quite a few), was the untimely death of his father. John Custer was a respected preacher in Annville and did his best to set an example for the townsfolk. He held Jesse to a higher standard to the rest and tried to do what he thought was best. Unfortunately, that led to John sending Tulip away after she effectively became an orphan, and the young Jesse prayed for God to kill his dad for it. Shortly after, John was set upon by some unknown men and executed with a revolver right in front of his son.
While there are a few hints in the show as to who exactly the assailants are, the whole context behind why John was killed is largely left in the dark. The second season needs to use this as an opportunity to explain Jesse's relationship with his dad, the whereabouts of his mother and the chain of events that set off the untimely killing of the senior Custer. If this is fulfilled, then it's more than likely going to lead to big part of Jesse's backstory from the comics being portrayed on the small screen.
3 MARIE L'ANGELLE AND ANGELVILLE
In the comics, Jesse was subjected to all sorts of horrific treatment at the hands of his grandmother Marie L'Angelle. L'Angelle was a matriarch for the L'Angelle family and ran a compound for their relatives called Angelville. Jesse's parents in the comics were apparently dispatched for breaking the family rules, leaving the younger to be groomed as a future preacher or suffer the consequences of talking back.
The show so far has lightly referenced the L'Angelle clan via tattoos of their insignia on the arm of John Custer's killer and directly on Jesse's back (pictured above). When Cassidy asked where the preacher got the mark, he simply replied "A mean old lady gave it to me." Hopefully, the second season will entail a full-on retrospect into Jesse's early life with the L'Angelles. Not only will it give more insight into Jesse's overall lack of biblical faith, but also to the family as a whole, who could only contribute to the already twisted and disturbing cadre of characters the show boasts.
2 HERR STARR
When Tulip delivers the map to her contact Danni, the woman travels to a theater and hands off the papers to a tall, bald man garbed in a white suit. The man takes the offering, puts on a white hat and mysteriously exits for the rest of the season. Even though the character has his face obscured during most of the scene, there's little doubt that this was an early appearance of Herr Starr.
Now that Tulip is inadvertently involved with Grail Industries, and Jesse's newfound Voice is attracting the wrong kinds of attention, it stands to reason that the Grail's most accomplished operative would be dispatched to investigate them both. Even with adjustments made for the television adaptation, the show could feed into Starr's early comic book arc, attempting to use Jesse's Voice to set the organization's grand plan into motion. Either way, it will be exciting to see one of "Preacher's" biggest villains finally make his full debut in the second season.
1 SAINT OF KILLERS LET LOOSE
Throughout the first season, audiences were treated to small snippets of story following a nameless cowboy in the old west. The character suffered a journey to a town called Ratwater to retrieve medicine, while being subjected to all sorts of horrifying things in the process, and the character ends up failing to get back to his ailing loved ones in time. It was revealed that the cowboy was trapped in Hell when Fiore and DeBlanc arrive, intent on freeing him in order to kill the preacher and recover Genesis. In the comics, this cowboy is known as the Saint of Killers.
The cowboy was seen during the season finale, putting a bullet through a Seraphim and getting hot on the trail of the traveling trio. The Saint is an incredibly deadly character, whose brutality was briefly seen late in the freshman season. Undoubtedly, Jesse and crew will likely run into the character while on their travels. Hopefully, the Saint keeps on doing what he does best, with even more crazy run-ins during the second season.
What are you hoping to see in the next season of "Preacher?" Be sure to tell us in the comments!