“Second Coming,” a television series produced by DC Comics, has been canceled after 200,000 people signed a petition against its release on the grounds that it was “blasphemous.”
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The series was based on a character with a Messiah complex — fitting because the main character was Jesus. The plot line follows the return of Jesus to Earth, where he teams up with a superhero named Sun-Man to fight evil.
“Witness the return of Jesus Christ, as He is sent on a most holy mission by God to learn what it takes to be the true messiah of mankind by becoming roommates with the world’s favorite savior: the all-powerful superhero Sun-Man, the Last Son of Krispex!” the plot summary reads. “But when Christ returns to Earth, he’s shocked to discover what has become of his gospel — and now, he aims to set the record straight.”
Even though many Christians called the series blasphemous, the writer, Mark Russell, argued that the way Jesus is commonly depicted in modern times is incorrect.
Russell previously authored a book called “God Is Disappointed In You,” which was billed as a condensed version of the Bible.
“The Christian religion doesn’t really base itself on what he taught, particularly in the modern Evangelical megachurches,” Russell, who grew up in the church, said in an interview with “Bleeding Cool.” “They have him more as mascot on t-shirts to prove they’re on the winning team. [“Second Coming”] is about Jesus coming down and being appalled by what he sees has been done in his name by Christianity in the last two thousand years. He goes by a megachurch and they have a billboard of this Tom Brady-looking Jesus Christ throwing a football and he doesn’t even recognize himself which is a metaphor for him not recognizing what’s been done with the religion that bears his name.”
The series paints Jesus inaccurately as having power and capability restrictions, as well as not having knowledge about how “sideways things” have become on Earth.
“God was so upset with the fact that he got crucified the last time that he wouldn’t even let him look through the celestial keyhole at Earth to keep up,” Russel said. “He still gets to talk to people when they come to Heaven so he has a rough idea of what’s going on down there. He doesn’t know how sideways things have gone until he’s come down to Earth and sees it for himself.”
In response to the plot description, a petition, created by the nonprofit CitizenGO, garnered over 200,000 signatures to boycott the “outrageous and blasphemous” show.
“Can you imagine the media and political uproar if DC Comics was altering and poking fun at the story of Muhammad… or Buddha?” the petition asks.
“This blasphemous content should not be tolerated,” the petition stated. “Jesus Christ is the Son of God. His story should not be ridiculed for the sake of selling comic books.”
On Feb.13, Newsarama reported that the series production had been canceled.
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Russell confirmed via Twitter that the series had been canceled because he had asked for the rights back.
‘The: DC/Vertigo’s cancellation of the orders for Second Coming, just so you know, DC did not do anything untoward to me,” Russell wrote. “I asked for the rights back and they gracefully agreed. They’ve been a pleasure to work with and it will still be released, albeit with a different publisher.”
The: DC/Vertigo’s cancellation of the orders for Second Coming, just so you know, DC did not do anything untoward to me. I asked for the rights back and they gracefully agreed. They’ve been a pleasure to work with and it will still be released, albeit with a different publisher.
— Mark Russell (@Manruss) February 13, 2019
Although the series has been canceled through DC Comics, it doesn’t mean that it won’t go into production eventually.