Although The Chosen One only lasted one season on Netflix, the supernatural drama only needed this single outing to perfectly adapt author Mark Millar’s comic book. Since there are so many streaming services to choose from and each service releases a deluge of new content every month, it can be easy for truly great shows to go under the radar.
The biggest problem with the thriving entertainment economy is that, although there are plenty of great shows getting greenlit, many of them are canceled before they can make an impression. For every hit like Apple TV’s 4-season psychological thriller Servant, there is an early, unfair cancellation like Netflix’s short-lived Stranger Things replacement, The Midnight Club.
Fortunately, some shows only need one season to tell their story, as ambitious as it might be. 2023’s The Chosen One, adapted from Mark Millar’s comic American Jesus, is a perfect example of this phenomenon. Although the show was swiftly forgotten after its release, its well-earned critical success proves that The Chosen One was an instant classic of its genre.
The Chosen One Is A Dark Religious Fantasy
Released in August 2023, The Chosen One was a coming-of-age show that followed the story of Jodie, a twelve-year-old boy from a rural town who exhibits Christ-like powers as he nears puberty. At first, after Jodie miraculously survived a truck crash that should have killed him, the townspeople of his hometown begin to believe that he must be blessed or sanctified.
However, when he starts to display even more impressive powers, like the ability to bring a dead person back to life, it becomes clear that something even more monumental is happening in Jodie’s small hometown. As the show’s title implies, Jodie appears to be the second coming of Christ, complete with the supernatural powers Christ revealed throughout his life.
However, The Chosen One’s ending reveals that this is not quite right. The show as a whole plays things largely straight, eschewing the dark, ribald humor found in earlier adaptations of Millar’s work, such as Kick-Ass and Wanted. As a result, The Chosen One’s dark twist ending hits far harder than it would have in a sillier series.
The Chosen One Improved On Mark Millar’s Comic
Like Kick-Ass and Logan, The Chosen One actually improved on its source material considerably when the show turned Millar’s 2004 comic American Jesus into a miniseries. The show stripped away some of the source material’s cartoonier elements and leaned into the character drama at the core of the story, turning Jodie into a more rounded, complex figure.
Where his comic counterpart is a thinly sketched kid, Jodie feels believably conflicted throughout The Chosen One. On the one hand, his extraordinary powers and the awe they inspire in his local townspeople understandably lead him to believe that he may be destined for great things. On the other hand, he doesn’t disagree entirely with the locals who fear his powers.
While these townspeople might be close-minded, Jodie is still understandably perturbed by his ability to bring a dead friend back to life, especially when their personality is entirely transformed by the ordeal. Eventually, Jodie begins to question how benevolent his powers really are, setting up the self-contained show’s killer ending.
The Chosen One’s arrival was overshadowed by a major competitor in the form of Prime Video’s long-awaited Good Omens adaptation, which had a somewhat similar premise but a much starrier cast and, pivotally, a far sunnier, funnier tone. Where The Chosen One blended psychological thriller plotting with supernatural religious horror, Good Omens was a broad, playful parody.
Despite this, The Chosen One is well worth a watch for viewers who missed the Millar adaptation the first time around. Its patient storytelling allows the show to slowly ramp up the tension, with Jodie’s predicament becoming stranger and less wholesome with each new outing. By the time the ending arrives, the show’s shocking conclusion is almost a relief.
The Chosen One Season 2 Is Unlikely To Happen
While The Chosen One wasn’t renewed for a second season, this isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Much like Apple TV’s Homecoming only needed one season to establish itself as a classic in the overstuffed psychological thriller genre, The Chosen One’s self-contained story didn’t require a second season. The show’s twist ending is perfect, but its events shut down any sequels.
Jodie’s fate is fitting and, as one famous horror franchise proves, trying to continue his story after the finale’s revelations would inevitably result in disappointment. The Millar adaptation was wise to wrap up with its bombshell revelation, as this twist re-contextualized the show’s entire story and made its plot far scarier in retrospect.
Although The Chosen One only lasted one season, the show only needed this outing to establish itself as an original, fresh supernatural fantasy with an ingenious ending. By remaining a self-contained miniseries, The Chosen One ensured that the Netflix show never sullied its clever story with a redundant follow-up to its killer debut outing, unlike many shows of its ilk.