Neil Gaiman remembers Lucifer by thanking the people who boycotted it

Lucifer, the show about what happens to Satan after he leaves Hell to run a nightclub in Los Angeles, was the most-streamed series of 2021. This week marks the sixth anniversary of the premiere back in 2015, so there’s plenty of renewed chatter going around. Some if it comes from Neil Gaiman, who introduced this particular incarnation of the Devil in his landmark comic series The Sandman.

The other day, Gaiman commemorated Lucifer’s anniversary by thanking the Christian group One Million Moms for boycotting the series before it came out, their argument being that it “mischaracterise[d] Satan.” Gaiman, on the other hand, took it as a sign that the show was headed in the right direction:

Gaiman laughed off the boycott at the time too, remembering when something similar happened with The Sandman years ago. “I wonder if they noticed it didn’t work last time, either…” he quipped back in 2015. And now, Netflix is readying an adaptation of The Sandman, which stars Game of Thrones veteran Gwendoline Christie as Lucifer. There’s no boycott for that one yet that we know of, but if there is, rest assured Gaiman will be ready for it.

Benedict Cumberbatch and Frances McDormand will not return for Good Omens season 2

When did Neil Gaiman become a super-producer? In addition to Lucifer and The Sandman (and let’s not forget the dearly departed American Gods over on Starz), he’s also readying a second season of Good Omens on Amazon Prime Video. The first season adapted the book of the same name by Gaiman and fantasy icon Terry Pratchett. The upcoming second season, on which Gaiman is serving as showrunner alongside director Douglas Mackinnon, will be based on a planned sequel that never materialized on account of Pratchett’s passing.

The gang is (mostly) all here for season 2. That includes Michael Sheen and David Tennant as Aziraphale and Crowley, an angel and demon who form an unlikely friendship over the centuries. Other returning cast members include Derek Jacobi, Mark Gatiss, Jon Hamm and Miranda Richardson. Newcomers include Dame Siân Phillips, Tim Downie, Pete Firman and Alex Norton.

Two people who won’t be back are Frances McDormand and Benedict Cumberbatch, who voiced God and the Devil respectively. Man, Gaiman, just cannot keep Satan out of his work, can he?

“We are so thrilled that we were able to get so many fabulous actors to return to the Good Omens family,” Gaiman said in a statement. “Some of them are reprising roles, some of them are playing completely new characters. And we are just as thrilled by the people coming to the Good Omens team for the first time. We have an ensemble cast of astonishing talent, and seeing what they’re giving us is a daily treat. I can’t wait until the rest of the world gets that treat, too.”

We don’t have a release date for either The Sandman or Good Omens season 2 as of yet, but The Sandman at least should be out this year, and Good Omens has a solid chance as well.

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