Neil Gaiman Calls ‘Good Omens’ the ‘Funniest Story I Could Tell About the End of the World’
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What do an angel, a demon and an 11-year-old Antichrist have to do with the end of times?
Everything, when it comes to Neil Gaiman’s Good Omens, an adaptation of the 1990 cult novel he wrote with late fantasy writer Terry Pratchett, Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch.
After 6,000 years on Earth, demon Crowley and angel Aziraphale (David Tennant and Michael Sheen) learn from their respective superiors that the apocalypse is nigh and to prepare for Heaven and Hell’s Final Battle.
To Crowley and Aziraphale, that’s a huge bummer. “They like Earth,” says Gaiman, who created and wrote all six episodes. “They like that there are sushi restaurants, music. There’s lots of really good stuff on Earth.”
So, the two join forces to save the world — not because they care about humanity, but because they want to preserve their lifestyles.
As the action unfolds, viewers can also expect to see the spawn of Satan (who’s a seemingly normal 11-year-old English kid, played by Sam Taylor Buck), an order of satanic nuns, the lost city of Atlantis, Shakespeare, the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, the depths of Hell (with de-motivational posters), the business-like structure of Heaven (where Jon Hamm “nails it” as the smug archangel Gabriel, says Gaiman), and a 1920s Bentley — on fire.
Good Omens isn’t just ambitious, it’s insane. And insanely enjoyable. “To put it in David Bowie fan terms,” Gaiman adds, “We didn’t want Rick Wakeman’s beautiful piano introduction to ‘Life on Mars,’ we wanted Mike Garson going mad in the middle of ‘Aladdin Sane.'”
Says Gaiman, “It’s the funniest story I could tell about the end of the world.”
Good Omens, Series Premiere, Friday, May 31 on Prime Video.
