'Lucifer' bosses talk stories they didn't get to tell, spinoffs & Sandman's take on Hellish character
Beetlejuice never got to go Hawaiian and neither did Satan, it turns out...
Catching up with TVLine ahead of the Season 6 home release this month, Lucifer showrunners/executive producers Ildy Modrovich and Joe Henderson were asked about the episodes they would have liked to make during the show's six-season run between 2016 and 2021 on Fox and Netflix. "The thing that [TV shows] used to do in the ’70s and ’80s is go to Hawaii!" said Modrovich. "I feel like the Lucifer cast in Hawaii would be goofy." In reality, it probably would've been a toss-up between a Hawaiian vacation and a deep dive into "Mom’s World, where Mom and God are now, and save some horrible situation from happening there. It’s all centaur people there, is what we always said. All centaurs."
Henderson, on the other hand, would have loved the opportunity to bring back a certain character from Season 1: Kevin Rankin's corrupt police officer, Malcolm Graham. "There were a couple times we came close to revisiting the character in Hell in some way," he revealed. "The problem is that Kevin Rankin is a very busy man because he’s a very excellent actor, but as our first villain, that would have been great to explore."
Based on the Hellish character created by the trio of Neil Gaiman, Sam Kieth, and Mike Dringenberg in the pages of The Sandman comics published by Vertigo, Lucifer stars Tom Ellis as in the titular role of Lucifer Morningstar. Ol' Mephistopheles ditches the whole pitchfork and horns get-up for a suave human appearance, which he uses to open a posh Los Angeles nightclub called Lux.
After countless eons of punishing wicked souls in the fiery depths of the Underworld, he also decides to do some good in the world, calling on his supernatural abilities to solve crimes alongside Officer Chloe Decker (Lauren German) of the LAPD. While on Earth, Beelzebub receives much-needed support from a trusted demon companion, Mazikeen (Lesley-Ann Brandt) — aka "Maze" — who could have received her own spinoff once the writers turned her into a badass bounty hunter.
"One of the big things we focused on making sure we told as much story with all of our characters, knowing this was our one shot, as possible, and then finishing the season and then discussing any spinoffs after," Henderson continued. "Especially once we made Maze a bounty hunter, all that stuff, we fantasy-created that show in our heads. There was a bunch of times, especially Seasons 2, 3 and 4, when we saw all of the potential of these characters. Then we sort of refocused on, 'How do we make sure that we tell every story we can with them with the time we have?' And then if we are ever lucky to have future spinoffs, we will have to be clever enough to find a new story."
Game of Thrones and Star Wars alum Gwendoline Christie plays a new version of Lucifer in Netflix's long-awaited adaptation of The Sandman, which, naturally, adheres much closer to the source material. Henderson is a big fan of Christie's take on the character and hopes to one day write a crossover with Ellis' version if the fates allow.
"It’s funny, many of the fans were like, 'Why isn’t it Tom Ellis?'" the showrunner concluded. "If you watch the show you see why, because her Lucifer is cruel, and brutal, and awesome. And it would break our hearts if Tom Ellis played that version of it, because ours is very sweet and kind. I love the differences, and I want to write the road trip spinoff of the two of them traveling America together and getting in trouble!"
All six seasons of Lucifer are currently streaming on Netflix. Season 6 arrives on DVD and Blu-Ray Tuesday, Sep. 13.
Looking for more supernatural thrills and chills? Check out SYFY's original SurrealEstate. The first season is streaming now on the SYFY app, and Season 2 is coming soon.
