Not to sound too defeatist given that the project was only officially unveiled to the world a matter of moments ago, but it’s hard to shake the feeling that The Chosen One is destined to become the next major Netflix fantasy series to end up being canceled after a single season.
It might hail from famed comic book creator Mark Millar – who had a hand in crafting the source material that served as the inspiration behind everything from Kick-Ass and Kingsman: The Secret Service to The Avengers and Logan – but the facts don’t make for encouraging reading when you dig a little deeper.
For one thing, the streaming service’s acquisition of Millarworld got off to the worst possible start when Jupiter’s Legacy – which was estimated to come carrying a budget of $200 million – was axed after eight episodes, while nobody even seemed to notice that the streamer’s animated adaptation of Super Crooks even existed.
It’s always nice to be proven wrong, though, even if the skeptics are already up in arms that Millar’s American Jesus has been rebranded as the decidedly more safe and less potentially inflammatory The Chosen One for when it hits streaming.
The episodic series will find a 12 year-old boy suddenly discovering that he’s the reincarnation of Jesus Christ, which leads him to have a little fun with the associated skill set that comes with it. If handled correctly, there’s no reason to doubt The Chosen One could be appointment viewing, but Netflix’s track record with fantastical comic book and/or superhero stories is sketchy to say the least.