God may pay for his crimes yet! AMC has officially ordered Preacher season 4.
Production will move to Australia for season 4, per a TVLine report. The original comic series by Garth Ennis remained in the United States (and other various heavenly and hellish realms) for the duration of its run so it’s unlikely that Preacher will go The Leftovers’ season 3 route and actually be set in Australia. It’s more likely that Australia has some nice tax credits and is versatile enough geographically to resemble parts of the United States. Production is set to begin in early 2019.
“Preacher is a show unlike any other on television. A passionate base of fans found their way to Jesse, Tulip and Cassidy and have followed along with their adventures, at times indescribable adventures, for three seasons,” David Madden, president of programming for AMC Networks, said in a statement. “We are thankful to our partners at Sony and to Seth, Evan and Sam for everything they have brought to this series, which we are pleased to renew for a fourth season. Like the superfans of Preacher, we can’t wait to see where this journey leads next.”
AMC clearly loves its comic book adaptations and has all but declared that its flagship property, The Walking Dead, will last forever. Until now, Preacher hadn’t been quite as lucky. Preacher season 3’s finale, ‘The Light Above,’ aired on 26th August. It took until now for AMC to renew for Preacher season 4.
The network had the opportunity to do so during the Preacher panel at San Diego Comic-Con, but didn’t. Then they could have mentioned season 4 during the TCA summer press tour, but didn’t. New York Comic Con in October? Still no word on Preacher season 4. But hey! Better late November than late never.
AMC’s hesitance to pull the cord on a fourth season of Preacher likely had a lot to do with the show’s performance. Preacher is generally well regarded by critics but seen as far inferior to its Garth Ennis comic source material. The show also isn’t necessarily a ratings juggernaut by any means, averaging around a million viewers per episode. That’s certainly not awful for a cable show but maybe AMC has gotten spoiled with The Walking Dead‘s massive ratings.
Still, as AMC’s statement suggests, it must have been hard to not want to keep working with Seth Rogen, Evan Goldberg, Sam Catlin, Dominic Cooper, Ruth Negga, and Joseph Gilgun.
When Preacher season 4 arrives there are still plenty of foes for Jesse, Tulip, and Cassidy to confront. Angelville and the L’Angelles will be in the rearview but Herr Starr and the Grail are still out there. As is The Saint of Killers, who is emboldened after killing Satan for funsies and his heading back to Earth to find Jesse with Eugene in tow.