
An angel and a demon team up to stop a reluctant Antichrist from ending the world in the latest trailer for Good Omens, Amazon Prime’s hotly anticipated adaptation of the 1990 novel by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett. It’s glorious good fun and is bound to stoke enthusiasm among fans for the show’s debut in late May.
(Mild spoilers for the book below.)
Good Omens tells the story of angel Aziraphale (Michael Sheen) and demon Crowley (David Tennant) who gradually become friends over the millennia and team up to avert Armageddon. They’ve come to be rather fond of the Earth and all its humans, you see—not to mention the perks that come with it, like sleek electronics and quaint little restaurants where they know you. The supernatural pair doesn’t really want the Antichrist to bring an end to all of that.
The first trailer, released last year, focused predominantly on the bantering interactions between Crowley and Aziraphale, punctuated by Queen’s “You’re My Best Friend.” It proved that Tennant and Sheen were inspired choices for the roles; they have such good onscreen chemistry. “I don’t even like you!” Aziraphale declares at one point, only to have Crowley respond, “You do!” We only caught tantalizing glimpses of other details that would have struck a chord with hardcore fans of the novel.
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The angel Aziraphale (Michael Sheen) and demon Crowley (David Tennant) have “gone native” during their time on Earth.YouTube/Amazon Prime
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“The Earth isn’t just going to end itself.” Jon Hamm plays the archangel Gabriel.
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“Start. The. War.” Anna Maxwell Martin is Beelzebub, leader of the forces of hell.YouTube/Amazon Prime
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The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse are ready to ride.YouTube/Amazon Prime
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War (Mireille Enos).YouTube/Amazon Prime
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Pollution (Lourdes Faberes) took over when Pestilence retired.YouTube/Amazon Prime
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Famine (Yusuf Gatewood) runs a fad diet enterprise, of course.YouTube/Amazon Prime
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And then there’s this guy. Death is everywhere. Always.YouTube/Amazon Prime
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That young Adam has a lot of the Old Adam in him.YouTube/Amazon Prime
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Adam and his gang, the Them, are the bane of Lower Tadfield.YouTube/Amazon Prime
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Witchfinder descendent Newton Pulsifer (Jack Whitehall) teams up with witch descendent Anathema Device (Adria Arjona).YouTube/Amazon Prime
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“We don’t get tornadoes in England!” “We do today!”YouTube/Amazon Prime
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Signs and wonders.YouTube/Amazon Prime
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Witchfinder Sergeant Shadwell (Michael McKean) and Madame Tracy (Miranda Richardson).YouTube/Amazon Prime
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“The boy is coming into his power.”YouTube/Amazon Prime
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Big Daddy Satan makes an appearance, voiced by Benedict Cumberbatch.YouTube/Amazon Prime
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Aziraphale and Crowley find common ground with Adam the Antichrist.YouTube/Amazon Prime
This second trailer fleshes out those details nicely and keeps the Queen musical theme going by featuring “Under Pressure.” (A running gag in the novel is that any cassette tape—it was 1990, folks—left in the car for longer than a fortnight automatically turned into the band’s Greatest Hits compilation.) We finally get to see Jon Hamm’s deliciously smarmy Archangel Gabriel, who scoffs when Aziraphale tells him there doesn’t necessarily have to be a war: “Of course there does. How else would we win it?”
We also see the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (riding motorcycles, of course), Witchfinder Sergeant Shadwell (Michael McKean) and Madame Shadwell (Miranda Richardson), and unlikely lovers Newton Pulsifer (Jack Whitehall) and Anathema Device (Adria Arjona), keeper of the only accurate book of prophecies ever written: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch.
Best of all, we get our first look at Adam Young (Sam Taylor Buck), aka the Antichrist, who grew up having no idea of the critical role he’s expected to play in bringing about Armageddon. Buck has the angelic features and curly hair, but it’s not golden, as described in the book. Still, he makes a pretty convincing reluctant Antichrist, ominously telling his gang of friends (known collectively as the Them) that they’re all going to the End of the World: “It’s not far.”
All in all, we’re hopeful this adaptation will do the novel justice.
Good Omens comes to Amazon Prime May 31, 2019.
Listing image by YouTube/Amazon Prime
https://arstechnica.com/?p=1469251