Bags of charm and a gripping plot: Netflix’s The Chosen One reviewed

Some years ago, Mark Millar (the creator of Kick-Ass, Kingsman, etc.) hit on yet another brilliant conceit for one of his comic-book stories: a three-part series based on the premise that Bible-believing Christians are right, that the Antichrist walks among us and that only the second coming will save us – eventually – from the horrors depicted in Revelation.

‘I have nothing but happy memories of growing up as a Catholic, and I wanted to do a book about faith that was both intelligent and respectful,’ said Millar. ‘If we can do a thoughtful take on Batman surely we can do the same with Jesus?’ He named his trilogy American Jesus because it is – at least partly – about what it would be like if you were just an ordinary US kid who suddenly began to realise that you were the new Messiah.

It’s possibly my favourite Millar adventure (characteristically weird, dark, funny, satirical, blood-spattered and completely on the money) but for years a screen version seemed highly unlikely because the movie and television industries have long since tended to bat for the other team. Sure, there have been exceptions such as (devout Catholic) Mel Gibson’s The Passion of the Christ, plus the earlier Biblical epics. But in general, especially since the late 1960s, screenwriters have tended to give the devil all the best tunes, from Rosemary’s Baby and the various Omen movies, to all those contemporary series where the really bad guys are made to seem like goodies – for example, Hannibal, Dexter, Lucifer, Good Omens and the rest.

Happily, American Jesus has now escaped development hell by being transposed to one of those parts of the world where the TV people don’t find Christianity quite so lame, embarrassing or toxic: Mexico.