‘American Jesus’ Millarworld Netflix Series: Filming Begins & What We Know So Far

Following Jupiter’s Legacy and Super Crooks release on Netflix, American Jesus is looking like the next major Millarworld adaptation to come to Netflix. Filming began in April 2022, as per the original 2018 list of movies and shows.

The comic book series, originally published under the title Chosen in 2004, was one of the first titles to be released by Millarworld. Later, it was republished as American Jesus. There were 3 issues. Between 2019 and 2020, a follow-up comic was published as American Jesus: the New Messiah. There were 3 issues.

Mark Millar wrote the comic title, with Peter Gross as the artist.

American Jesus was one of the comics Netflix purchased in 2017, when it acquired Millarworld.

One year later, Millarworld's first movie and show lineup was released. American Jesus was one of the names.

Here’s what was announced about American Jesus at the time:

“Multilingual (Spanish/English) series American Jesus follows a twelve-year-old boy who suddenly discovers he’s returned as Jesus Christ. He can turn water into wine, make the crippled walk, and, perhaps, even raise the dead! How will he deal with the destiny to lead the world in a conflict thousands of years in the making?”

Who’s behind American Jesus for Netflix?

Pictured: Everardo Gout and Leopoldo Gout

Everardo Gout, and Leopoldo Gout had been announced as co-showrunners at the start. They will be the series' directors.

Just like how Netflix originally poached Steven S. DeKnight for Jupiter’s Legacy (who notably left the project in dramatic fashion) who helmed the successful series Daredevil, Netflix bought in one of the directors of Luke Cage in the form of Everardo Gout. Season 2 Episode 12 was his directorial debut for the Marvel series.

Everardo Gout, a director from Elsewhere is best known for The Forever Purge which was released in 2021. He’s directing an episode of Joe Picket for Paramount+ as well as working on shows like Snowpiercer, The Terror, National Geographic’s Mars, and Banshee.

Leopoldo Gout is known for serving as an executive producer on Netflix’s docuseries Jeffrey Epstein: Filthy Rich as well as serving as executive producer on shows like Zoo and Instinct.

Stacy Perskie is also a part of the cast and Luis Rosales is the casting director.

What’s American Jesus about?

American Jesus Book Cover

The official comic description gives us a solid indication of what we can expect and it looks like it’ll be following the first issue closely:

“After surviving a freak accident, a twelve-year-old boy discovers he’s the returned Jesus Christ. He can turn water into wine, make the crippled walk…he can even raise the dead. How will he deal with his destiny and lead the world through a conflict that’s been thousands of years in the making?”

American Jesus is the Netflix page that you must navigate to (and not via search).

“A 12-year-old boy learns he’s returned as Jesus Christ in a final effort to save mankind and must step into his destiny. Based on Mark Millar’s comic.”

We’ve also seen character descriptions for the two main characters with that being Jodie and his Mom, Sarah.

Jodie is described as “a seemingly normal teenager until a freak accident makes him think otherwise. Jodie isn't shy at all, but introverted. He is also a great storyteller, a trait he uses to entertain his friends.”

Sarah is described as “a beautiful and brave woman. She is Jodie’s mother and she protects him a lot, although she doesn’t know what she is protecting him from.”

What date will American Jesus begin production?

Production was set for March 1, 2022, as we mentioned above. While we don’t have exact filming locations, we do know the majority of the show will be filmed in Mexico, outside Mexico City specifically.

According to the Millarworld account, shooting officially started on April 25, 2022. The account, which is no longer managed by Millar, was asked whether Mark Millar would visit the set.

“I think Mark’s popping by at some point, but the set is 14 hrs from Mexico City and temperature is 40 degrees. As a ginger I’m not sure he’s designed to survive that!”

The production of the show was originally scheduled to begin in spring 2020, but delays were naturally caused by the pandemic.

Deadline received updates from Mark Millar in May 2021.

“The development for American Jesus is coming along beautifully in the talented and capable hands of Everardo Gout and Leopoldo Gout. I’m blown away by the creative choices that Netflix has allowed us, and particularly since this series will feature Spanish and English dialogue.”

As for the release date, it’s too early to say. We’re speculating that it’ll be within the next year or two before we see it land on Netflix.

While it’s been a rough start for Millarworld for Netflix at least on the movie and TV front, has been quietly releasing a slew of comics since 2018 including Sharkey the Bounty Hunter, Space Bandits, and most recently, King of Spies.

American Jesus and the Live-Action Super Crooks Project are among the new Netflix projects. The Magic Order is also back in development, after it was delayed.

Netflix has been busy adapting a wide range of comic books from Dark Horse Comics to Image Comics. Studios.

Do you look forward to American Jesus being available on Netflix soon? Comment below.