With the end of the show approaching, the Lucifer crew is sharing their gratitude on Twitter – including comic writer Neil Gaiman, who sarcastically thanks the group One Million Moms for protesting the show back in 2015. Inspired by Gaiman’s comic series – The Sandman – Lucifer follows the titular character (played by Tom Ellis) as he turns a vacation on Earth into a permanent stay. This upsets his angel brother, Amenadiel (D.B. Woodside), who was sent by God to ensure Lucifer’s return to Hell. Lucifer won’t budge, though, especially after he meets Detective Chloe Decker (Lauren German) and starts going to therapy with Dr. Linda Martin (Rachael Harris) – both of which allow him to explore his humanity. Lucifer aired its first 3 seasons on Fox before getting cancelled, leading Netflix to pick up the show and take over. Lucifer now has just one and a half seasons left before the finale.
Because of its very premise, Lucifer has deep ties with religiosity and was bound to upset people who carry more conservative Christian values. When the series was first announced in 2015, a media surveillance group called One Million Moms criticized Lucifer for mischaracterizing Satan and making a mockery of the Bible. The group also started a petition calling for the show’s cancellation and managed to get around 11,000 signatures – but this did nothing to sway Gaiman or stop the studio from moving forward with the show. Gaiman responded to the petition by saying the Sandman comics already had a history of censorship due its inclusion of LGBTQ+ characters. He seemed entirely unbothered by a possible cancellation as he explained that these attempts at censorship don’t work.
The 2015 petition did not stop Lucifer from airing and, in fact, drummed up a fair amount of press going into the show’s premiere. Rather than hurting the show, the group’s boycott may have instead boosted it by catching the attention of potential fans. On Monday, Gaiman took to twitter to thank One Million Moms for the free press, also saying that this type of censorship on people’s work is almost like a “magical guarantee that it will blossom and grow.“
Besides referencing the past controversy with Lucifer in his tweet, Gaiman also plugged the upcoming series Sandman, another TV adaptation currently in development with Netflix. This series is supposed to lean closer into the comics’ story and will feature a brand new cast separate from Lucifer. Although there have been many screen adaptations of Gaiman’s work in the past, Sandman will be the first series where he is the creator and showrunner. That said, Gaiman has plenty of experience in TV having worked on other show’s inspired by his work as well as writing two episodes for Doctor Who during Matt Smith’s iteration.
While it’s unclear whether or not One Million Moms was the reason for Lucifer‘s success, Gaiman is certainly right that the show blossomed and grew. Lucifer has a strong fanbase, which is part of why they were successful in getting the show picked up by Netflix after its cancellation. The show has also flourished in terms of style – Lucifer has become charmingly experimental as they have been playing around with unique episodes, including one set in an alternate timeline, one entirely black and white, and one that will be a musical episode. While no group has publicly spoken out about Sandman, there is still plenty of time for that to happen while it’s still in production – if there’s anyone who wants to protest it, only to see it succeed.
