DC Comics and Warner have lined up another TV show among their many adaptations already shooting or in development (Gotham, Constantine, Supergirl, Arrow, The Flash, and Titans). Now they’ve sold a Lucifer adaptation to Fox. How do you like to be sold, Lucifer? In yo’ face!
Tom Kapinos, the writer and creator of Californication, will serve as Lucifer‘s showrunner. Fox ordered a put pilot, meaning they have to air the pilot or pay a hefty price (Constantine has a similar deal with NBC). Deadline explains which part of the character’s story arc the pilot will cover.
[The show] 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 opens an exclusive piano bar called Lux.
The character, drawn to resemble David Bowie, was introduced in Neil Gaiman’s The Sandman and spun off as its own comic written by Mike Carey.
Gaiman — who took inspiration from John Milton’s Paradise Lost — depicted Lucifer as a rebellious angel who is reluctant to run hell. The character is amoral and bored with the job, not taking any joy in receiving more souls. Before handing over the keys to hell to Morpheus and bailing to live on Earth, Lucifer says, “Why do they blame me for all their little failings? They use my name as if I spent my entire day sitting on their shoulders, forcing them to commit acts they would otherwise find repulsive. ‘The Devil made me do it.’ I have never made any one of them do anything. Never. They live their own tiny lives. I do not live their lives for them.”
There’s a guy who sounds burned out on his job. No wonder he asked someone else to take over. Hopefully, Fox will veer from canon a bit and use a more TV-friendly character as Lucifer’s replacement…
