For such a bold show, Preacher’s handling of Jesus as a character has proven incredibly safe. As the name makes clear, Preacher deals with a whole lot of religion. Halfway through the final season, fans have been introduced to the titular preacher with the power of Genesis (the ability to speak with the voice of God), multiple real-life angels, the Devil (now dead and replaced by Hitler), the Messiah, and of course, God himself (a weirdo with a penchant for dressing up as a latex dog). It shouldn’t be surprising, then, that this season the show finally introduced none other than Jesus Christ.
Christ is played by Tyson Ritter, who also portrays Humperdoo (the last surviving descendant of Jesus), and has appeared in two episodes this season: “Search and Rescue” and “Bleak City”. It seems that Jesus is sticking around till the end, as he sits in Masada as an ambassador to Heaven, and deals with his own personal relationship with God. He’s something of a wild-card character, as he has helped Tulip and Cass, but also works for God and with The Grail, so it’s not quite clear what his final impact is going to be - although it’s certain to be an interesting one.
However, as interesting an addition to the series as Jesus is, the character is something of a disappointment. While Ritter does an excellent job with both Jesus and Humperdoo, Preacher is a series known for pushing boundaries and painting a particularly inflammatory picture of Christianity. Seeing Jesus appear as a kind, compassionate, white, bearded dude in a robe seems to be playing it far too safe for fans who were hoping for something a little more shocking (even if he was seen having sex in an earlier season, and smoking weed in the latest episode).
How Jesus Joined Preacher
Thus far, Jesus hasn’t had a huge impact on Preacher, but this will presumably change before the end. Christ first appeared earlier in the show, when he was seen in a flashback having sex to pass on his bloodline. In season 4, he is seen in Masada, when Tulip was undercover as a Grail agent in an attempt to break Cassidy out of their dungeon. Assigned to be valet to the Ambassador of Heaven, she ended up not just meeting Jesus, but being helped by him. From his first appearance, Jesus was practically glowing with love and compassion, encouraging Tulip to open up, and then deciding to try and help her save Cass. He was kind, helpful, empathetic, loving - in short, absolutely everything that would be expected of Jesus.
Things did get a little more interesting when Tulip left Masada, and went back to the bar - and Jesus decided to come with. For a brief moment, it seemed as though Jesus might be bored with his life and decide to run away with Tulip to live a life of wild sin… but it didn’t last long. After a brief sojourn, a joint in the car, and a conversation about robbing banks, Jesus decided to return to Masada and take his place at the negotiation table of the Apocalypse, where he currently remains.
Why The Stereotypical Jesus Isn’t What Preacher Fans Expected
Jesus isn’t in the original comic series (although Humperdoo is), so Preacher had free reign to create whatever they wanted, so it’s surprising that the show went with such a classic portrayal of the son of God. The white robe, red sash, white skin, beard… it could all have stepped straight out of a children’s book on Christianity. Even his attitude - dutiful, kind, loving, always doing the right thing - is exactly what would be expected.
This wouldn’t be shocking in any other series - should Supernatural bring Jesus into The CW show (as more than just a mention), fans may expect something a little more predictable - but Preacher makes a point of creating shocking versions of Christian figures. God was first found dressed head to toe in a latex dalmatian suit at a fetish club. Angels are killers (and at least one has been bumping uglies with a demon), Hitler first appeared as a kind and gentle soul (although this was revealed to be a lie), and the last member of the bloodline of Christ is incapable of essentially anything beyond tap-dancing and feces-flinging. With that kind of track record, Preacher’s Jesus should have comes with at least a little bit of a twist.
Daddy Issues Aren’t Enough To Make Jesus Interesting
There is a tiny bit more depth added to Jesus’s character in Preacher season 4, but it’s not a whole lot. After his very first appearance as the perfect, loving helper, Jesus runs away with Tulip, and thinks about fleeing to Vegas to live a new life. He smokes weed and complains about his issues with his father. He doesn’t feel good enough for God, God prefers Humperdoo to him, he tries, but he feels stifled and bored. It’s interesting and potentially an accurate assessment of how impossible it would be to live up to being Jesus Christ, but it’s not particularly surprising, especially as his plans for Vegas include mingling with commoners and generally being Christ-like. He briefly debates robbing a bank, but can’t cope with the idea that he could hurt someone. For a show like Preacher, seeing Jesus smoke a joint is downright tame - and it’s essentially canceled out by the fact that he regrets his jaunt into the world at large and returns to Masada to do his duty.
In many ways, this actually does more for the God character than for that of Jesus himself. Jesus is still kind, compassionate, and doing the right thing despite having a terrible father. And God, in this universe, is undoubtedly a terrible father and overall a pretty messed up person, choosing to toy with his creations for his own petty amusements. God as a terrible father may be an interesting layer to add to this, but it doesn’t do a whole lot for Jesus himself.
How Preacher Could Do Better With Jesus
Preacher may still be a fantastic series that loves skewering Christianity and introducing complicated characters that live in the grey area between right and wrong, but there’s no denying that it could have done a whole lot better with Jesus. For one thing, there was absolutely no reason to make Jesus white. Overall, Preacher is an eyebrow-raisingly white series; although Tulip’s character got a much-needed makeover from the comic version, almost every other character in the series is white. Hoover 1 was a black man, but was first turned into a vampire and then burned alive, and was never as major a player as his partner. And aside from these two, there’s been essentially no PoC characters beyond a few one-offs or minor characters.
Jesus would have been the perfect character to inject a little diversity, especially as the premise of the series is that the stories of the Bible actually happened (in some shape or form). If this was actually the case, given the time period and location, the chances of Jesus being white would be astronomically slim. Having a more accurate Jesus would have been fantastic commentary for the series, and would have made his appearance as the uber-good-guy far more rewarding to see.
Even if the series was determined to have a white God-family (including God and Humperdoo), why not make Jesus a little darker, a little more complicated, a little more interesting? At the very least, have him show up in something other than a robe and sandals! Jesus as a dashing rogue would be a far more interesting foil to Hitler, and including a comment about why he’s not appearing as the stereotype would have left room to make some interesting observations on how the world perceives Christ. There is still time to adjust this, of course. With five episodes to go in Preacher season 4, there’s plenty of room for Jesus to become someone far more fascinating. Although it would have been far more satisfying to see Preacher playing it less safe with the character to begin with.
