# Preacher, and the Saint of Killers **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 6, 2003, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/preacher-and-the-saint-of-killers/173448 "2003-05-06T17:34:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![smiling\_bandit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@smiling\_bandit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smiling_bandit)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2003, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/preacher-and-the-saint-of-killers/173448/1 "2003-05-06T17:34:33Z")
So I heard there will be a “Preacher” movie. Can someone explain a bit or link to something about the character? And who/shat is the Saint of Killers? I’ve heard in the comics he killed God. Exactly how is this possible, and did God stay dead? I men, its not like He hasn’t had the whole ressurection thing before. Moreover, exactly how do you kill a trascendent being covering everywhere that is? From what I understand, the Saint is basically really accurate with a gun. How do you kill God with a peice of metal? ---
**Author:** ![Some\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/439d5e/32.png) [@Some\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Some_Guy)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2003, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/preacher-and-the-saint-of-killers/173448/2 "2003-05-06T17:54:16Z")
Okay, spoilers aplenty, but I think the thread title is enough to keep people out that don’t want spoilers… The most important thing to know about Preacher is that it’s a good story, but not a deep story. Don’t expect it to be metaphysically consistent, because you’ll be disappointed. The answer to your specific question is that, A) the Saint’s guns are not “just” guns; they were forged from the Angel of Death’s sword, and by definition they can kill pretty much anything; B) the basic plot of Preacher revolves around God having abandoned his responsibilities and place in the heavens to hide on Earth, because he was frightened by Genesis, and in this way he is portrayed as somewhat limited by circumstance; C) the explicit way in which the Saint targeted him was to kill of the entire angelic host, wait for a time when he knew God would be returning to heaven, and then shoot him before he could “regain the throne of heaven” - the implication being that he was vulnerable so long as he hadn’t done this. It’s not deep theology, but that’s not the point in any case. ---
**Author:** ![smiling\_bandit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@smiling\_bandit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smiling_bandit)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2003, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/preacher-and-the-saint-of-killers/173448/3 "2003-05-06T19:17:38Z")
Ah, so basically its the standard Comic Book stuff? Since I got the idea of what Genesis was; the fusion of Good and Evil into one thing, how can God be “scared” of it? He was supposed to be invulnerable on his Holy Office, right? Is God not very bright in this comic, a la “Batman” regularly out-thinking supergeniuses with 10,000+ of experience and so forth? ---
**Author:** ![MusicJunkie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df788c/32.png) [@MusicJunkie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MusicJunkie)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2003, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/preacher-and-the-saint-of-killers/173448/4 "2003-05-06T19:29:12Z")
SPOILERS Genesis is the fusion of Heavenly and Infernal not of Good and Evil. It is a genuinely new idea so it is as powerful as the old ones like God and the Devil. God ran away from it. While away he was vulnerable to the Saint of Killers. The Saint has nothing to do with Genesis but decides he is after God himself and, as he is the new Angel of Death and has the ability to kill anything ( he killed Satan the day he became the Saint ), he was able to kill God. Preacher is definetely not the usual comic book stuff and yes, God is pretty dumb in the comics. ---
**Author:** ![Apos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/838e76/32.png) [@Apos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Apos)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2003, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/preacher-and-the-saint-of-killers/173448/5 "2003-05-06T19:39:15Z")
Actually, the Saint was created explicitly so that it would be powerful enough to kill Genesis… and hence also God. God manipulated the Saint into being, setting up his own downfall. ---
**Author:** ![smiling\_bandit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@smiling\_bandit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smiling_bandit)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2003, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/preacher-and-the-saint-of-killers/173448/6 "2003-05-06T20:02:08Z")
Well, that makes only a little less sense than most comics. ---
**Author:** ![Interrobang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/interrobang/32/17463_2.png) [@Interrobang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Interrobang)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2003, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/preacher-and-the-saint-of-killers/173448/7 "2003-05-06T20:26:06Z")
> [@](#): > > a la “Batman” regularly out-thinking supergeniuses with 10,000+ of experience and so forth? [hijack] Okay – Batman vs. The Saint of Killers. 24 hours to prepare, then SoK’s gonna point and shoot. Someone had to do it… [/hijack] Oh, and **smiling bandit** – _Preacher_ makes perfect sense within the universe it creates. (More sense than, say, _X-Men_, even, since the whole series was written by one author and tells a complete story. Of course, if you don’t particularly care for comic books anyway, you’re probably not going to be impressed. ---
**Author:** ![Daoloth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/82dd89/32.png) [@Daoloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Daoloth)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2003, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/preacher-and-the-saint-of-killers/173448/8 "2003-05-06T22:26:15Z")
**Bandit** , it’s of interest that your OP has a spoiler for the entire series. Not your fault, but maybe you should have the mods edit it. ---
**Author:** ![cletus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f08c70/32.png) [@cletus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cletus)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2003, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/preacher-and-the-saint-of-killers/173448/9 "2003-05-07T00:40:11Z")
_Preacher_ is a excellent comic, **smiling bandit** , and judging from the OP you haven’t read it yet. I highly recommend it before you see the movie. Many of the questions concerning apparently non-logical issues (such as yours) are answered in the comic. Often executed in a simple and humorous style too. ---
**Author:** ![Payton\_s\_Servant](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3da27b/32.png) [@Payton\_s\_Servant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Payton_s_Servant)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2003, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/preacher-and-the-saint-of-killers/173448/10 "2003-05-07T01:12:08Z")
As far as the movie goes, there has been a lot of bleating and wailing from the comic-geek crowd because Nicolas Cage is supposedly going to be portraying Jesse Custer in the movie version. 'Course the movie has been in development hell for about 3 years, so it’s anyone’s guess if it will ever get made. ---
**Author:** ![Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hey_It_s_That_Guy)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2003, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/preacher-and-the-saint-of-killers/173448/11 "2003-05-07T01:41:50Z")
Last I heard (which was relatively recently), James Marsden (Cyclops from the X-Men movies) was officially cast to play Jesse Custer. ---
**Author:** ![MusicJunkie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df788c/32.png) [@MusicJunkie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MusicJunkie)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2003, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/preacher-and-the-saint-of-killers/173448/12 "2003-05-07T02:08:48Z")
Last I heard Nicholas Cage was going to play John Constantine. Sorry about the mix-up on the Saint story, I only read the first four TPBs and won’t read the rest until I’m back in the US. ---
**Author:** ![Cubsfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Cubsfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cubsfan)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2003, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/preacher-and-the-saint-of-killers/173448/13 "2003-05-07T02:33:50Z")
Sweet Jesus. A Mod needs to put a spoiler warning in the subject of this thread. BIGTIME. The climax of the series is given away in the first post. ---
**Author:** ![Cubsfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Cubsfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cubsfan)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2003, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/preacher-and-the-saint-of-killers/173448/14 "2003-05-07T02:35:57Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Daoloth \* > \*\ ***Bandit** , it’s of interest that your OP has a spoiler for the entire series. Not your fault, but maybe you should have the mods edit it. \*\* I reported it. Hopefully someone will come along and take care of it.