When the news first broke that Vertigo”s LUCIFER was being optioned as a TV series, fans were excited. That excitement immediately turned to trepidation when it was discovered the show was being developed by Fox.
The reaction would”ve been the same if it had been any of the Big Three. Network television is not situated to tell the story of Lucifer Morningstar, Sunlighter of God. If you”re going to have Satan as the hero of your story, you at least need to be on cable.
Now Deadline has confirmed the worst. Since the last round of announcements, a few changes have been made to the pilot.
“[…]the TV series centers on Lucifer who, bored and unhappy as the Lord of Hell, resigns his throne and abandons his kingdom for the gorgeous, shimmering insanity of Los Angeles, where he gets his kicks helping the LAPD punish criminals.”
Deadline goes on to say the show seems to have evolved into a police procedural.
Mike Carey”s Lucifer was not a petulant, bored child. He”s a happily retired fallen angel, running the Lux piano bar with his lover Mazikeen who gets pulled back into the metaphysical family drama. He certainly doesn”t go around helping mortals punish criminals, for kicks or otherwise. To quote the character himself, ” [I] let you find your own way to Hell.”
The themes of LUCIFER are heavy, and do not play well in a Christian-majority culture. The series revolves around the idea that perhaps God is a tyrant, an omnipotent being that created sin and damnation as fear-mongering tactics. When God represents totalitarian oppression, the angels are mindless enforcers of the status quo, and Satan stands for free-will and rebelling against the ‘tyranny of predestination,” it can be scary to stay true to the source material.
So, hey Fox. Maybe you bit off more than you can chew? It”s understandable. But if you”re not going to do LUCIFER right, maybe just don”t do it at all.