After a long wait and longer monologues of his neglect and cruelty from his son, the omnipresent God is finally on Lucifer. (Well, no spoiler alert for that spoiler).
Season 5 of the Netflix supernatural detective series Lucifer ended with an unexpected guest of honor, the god on the person.
The internet soon buzzed with questions like about this sudden surprise: who was this god, why was he here, how come he was black, will he give us ALL the answers, and so on. Here we are trying to answer as many as those we can.
Loosely based on the DC / Vertigo characters like king of hell Lucifer Morningstar, his associate Mazikeen, among others, the Netflix series Lucifer recently brought to life capital g – god on its show.
Father to Lucifer, Michael and Amenadiel, god has been portrayed by the Black American artist Dennis Haysbert.
In earlier renditions of Lucifer, god only had a voice which belonged to writer Neil Gaiman, who had co-written the characters for DC’s Sandman back in the day.
1. Who is god in Lucifer?
As fans would know, the Netflix series Lucifer is based on the DC, later Vertigo, comics’ character Lucifer and his associates.
There have been some major creative liberties taken when adapting the comics to live action. However, the one thing kept almost intact has to be Lucifer’s relationship with his father, the almighty god.
From the start, the character of god was seen as the helicopter parent, trying to control all his children’s lives. However, as the story moved forward, we found that all the angels were simply self-actualising.
This meant Lucifer and his devil face were a result of his own anger against himself.
The series too adapts this version and we see Lucifer (played by Welsh actor Tom Ellis) sharing his hatred for himself during a session with his shrink Dr Linda (a character not present originally in the comics).
The series still limited the godly presence to some celestial narration in season 3. Or that one time a man fancied himself god, played by Timothy Omundson.
But never did the series bring god down to Los Angeles, in person, until season 5
Just as it looked like the mid-season finale was about to end, we find Lucifer caught in a brawl with brothers Amenadiel (DB Woodside) and Michael (Ellis again, since they are twins).
Interrupting them at the LAPD, is the towering celestial figure of god (Dennis Haysbert), “Children. You know I hate it when you fight.”
Played by Dennis Haysbert, an American actor and voice actor from San Mateo, California, god did not have much of a role in the part one.
But he is definitely expected to play a huge role in part two of Lucifer season five.
Lucifer fans may recognize Haysbert from his role as US Senator, later president, David Palmer in the first five seasons of 24.
2. Why is god so late?
The supreme deity’s sudden appearance in the fifth season has sparked a whole lot of theories among fan circles.
But before that, let’s hear it from the creators first, especially considering the character was never brought to the forefront in the original comics.
According to writer and showrunner Ildy Modrovich, the decision to bring in god was delayed because it needed a lot of thought and that they have finally “found a way” to get him in.
“To be honest, we were always worried about bringing God into the [show] because we loved that it was always about people interpreting his actions or his lack of actions.
And if we brought him actually there, would he give us too many answers? Instead of God being mysterious, suddenly, oh, here we are with the drawer of answers. [Laughs.] We wanted to make sure we didn’t do that. I think we found a way.”
In fact, god wasn’t part of the plan when Lucifer premiered on Fox back in 2016 because the show was more concerned with how this absent father affected the Devil.
Modrovich has even commented earlier that the writers decided on two things – never to bring god onboard and never go to hell.
“But once we did hell in season 1, I think that’s really what changed everything [and] made us go, ‘Never say never,'”
Modrovich
In fact, the only time the original comics saw god was around his death! (Not even kidding) Lucifer has originally played detective in case of, you guessed it, his own father’s death.
It is safe to say that the series has been fairly dialed down. God is dead, at one point, in the comics. If we’re talking possible theories for season 6, I want THAT to be one!
Speaking of plausible theories, to prepare for his eventual introduction, the producers wrote season 3’s “Once Upon a Time,” which featured Neil Gaiman as the voice of God.
There is an alternate timeline in which Chloe (Lauren German who is also not a part of the original comics) never became a detective because her father didn’t die.
Here God shows us that Lucifer and Chloe would always find their way to each other. A hint of the free will vs god’s plan debate that the comics pursued heavily.
3. What is God’s plan?
As we find out above, the last time god was on the show, we got to see a whole new universe where Chloe’s dad isnt dead and she is no detective. What does that mean for Lucifer’s plot going ahead?
Season 5 theories are exploding in Reddit circles and fan chatrooms. Up until this point, i.e. season 5 part 1, the writers had mined so much character drama out of Lucifer and Amenadiel trying to interpret God’s wishes from his silence.
As god, Dennis Haysbert’s enigmatic demeanor threatens all of Lucifer’s growth over the past four seasons with just second half of season 5.
“It takes him back to a very primal place, and his feelings are very raw. I’m just so happy and so proud of what we’ve done.”
Ellis
Michael as the new hell-king? After causing chaos amongst the mortals, some fans are convinced Michael could be banished to hell to atone for his crimes.
Lucifer’s fourth season concluded with him back on his throne in the underworld. But he manages a short trip to earth after briefly having his brother Amenadiel to fill in.
However, by end of the first part of season 5, both the angels are back on Earth for the foreseeable future. If God doesn’t step in to restore the balance, the mortal plane could soon be overrun with unruly demons and hellish nightmares. Hence, Michael could be a good choice for the hell throne, that is if Lucifer decides to return and stay separated from Chloe.
According to E.B., who plays Amenadiel on the show, audiences are in for a surprise in the final season. He has clearly warned against a sunny happy ending for the couple and proposed to call it a happy-ish ending instead.
Maybe we will finally see what Lucifer has been warning about from the start that his dad is not as warm as he seems.
In any case, God’s long-awaited introduction might finally give Lucifer some sort of closure after having a one-sided relationship for so long. The father-son duo have so much to catch up on!
4. Brownie points for a Black god
While Dennis Haysbert has been an exceptionally apt actor for the role of a reclusively warm father figure in the series, his casting for the show has earned praise for the creators especially given the racial turmoil this summer.
While the character of god has earlier too been portrayed by a black man in Hollywood (remember the ultimate god Morgan Freeman from Bruce Almighty), the timing of this Netflix series has been particularly lucky.
Especially considering the ongoing BLM protests also questioned the predominantly white image of Jesus as a symbol of racial dominance.
Even before the series was picked up by the streaming giant, the white character of Amenadiel was already portrayed as black.
However, the choice was criticized because Amenadiel was seen as a brutish son of god who was hell bent on punishing Lucifer for disobeying their father.
He is also killed by Lucifer which has not happened so far in the show though.
In fact, Haysbert and EB have previously worked together and the latter has a huge hand in the casting for god’s role.
“DB [Woodside] had actually come up to us and said, ‘Have you thought about Dennis [Haysbert]?’
“We were like, ‘Do you think he’d actually do it?’ And he’s like, ‘Well, I’ve already talked to him and sort of brought it up.’ And so we just went straight on at him.”
“Every time I see DB, there’s always this fondness and this connection.”
Haysbert
We worked on a show that was arguably one of the best shows ever produced in television, so you’re going to have a kind of camaraderie.
“I don’t know how I went from brothers to father. We’re celestial. We can do that.”
Meanwhile, Netflix has decided to address the issue head on and portray the ongoing Black Lives Matter protests in its sixth season.
5. About Lucifer
Lucifer is an American urban fantasy drama series created by Tom Kapinos. It is based on the DC Comics character from The Sandman, created by Neil Gaiman, Sam Kieth, and Mike Dringenberg. Warner Bros. Entertainment and DC Entertainment produce the series.
Originally premiered in 2016, Lucifer was picked up by Netflix when Fox canceled the show after three seasons. Lucifer is set to end with Season 6, which is rumored to air early in 2022.
The series revolves around Lucifer Morningstar (Tom Ellis), the Devil, who abandons Hell for Los Angeles, where he runs his own nightclub named ‘LUX’ and becomes a consultant to the LAPD. All the while working on his character development to be a better Devil/Angel.
The latest season featured the retirement of God, a lot of broken hearts and mending relationships, ambitious Angels, and the Devil taking it upon himself to right the wrongs of his dear ol’ dad, God.
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