‘Damien’ Trailer: Bradley James Is a Reluctant Antichrist in A&E’s ‘The Omen’ Sequel Series

The first Damien trailer shows off a series that’s playing straight into one of the stranger trends in modern entertainment — the sequel to an original story which ignores the sequels that already exists. A&E’s new show is a sequel to the 1976 horror classic The Omen, but it totally ignores all three follow-ups in favor of telling a brand new story. And that may be a good thing, because the sequels to The Omen are terrrrible and Damien looks like perfectly adequate television.

Like The Omen 3: The Final Conflict, Damien catches up with the title character as an adult, years after his mere, satanic presence led to the deaths of his mother and father. The trailer even uses footage taken directly from Richard Donner’s movie to make the connection clear. However, the similarities to the existing movies end there. Unlike the adult Damien Thorn of the movie sequels, this take on the character (played by Bradley James) doesn’t know he’s the son of Satan and is reluctant to fulfill his destiny when the truth gets dropped on his lap. However, Barbara Hershey is around to convince him otherwise and this trailer is built around her, flashing to other creepy and mysterious images.

We have no idea if Damien will be any good, but this is interesting material for showrunner Glenn Mazzara, who previously worked on The Walking Dead and The Shield. A&E has already found tremendous success re-imagining one horror icon with Bates Motel, so it’s not like this is untested territory for the network. This partnership could actually result in an exceptional series that’s all about defying your destiny or giving into the role that your parents (Satan or otherwise) have chosen for you. Or it could just disappear after its first 10 episode run, never to be heard from again.

Here’s the synopsis for Damien:

“Damien” follows the adult life of Damien Thorn (Bradley James), the mysterious child from the 1976 motion picture who has grown up seemingly unaware of the satanic forces around him. Haunted by his past, Damien must now come to terms with his true destiny — that he is the Antichrist. Barbara Hershey stars as Ann Rutledge, the world’s most powerful woman who has been tasked with making sure Damien fulfills his destiny. Omid Abtahi portrays Amani Golkar, a close colleague of Damien’s whose fierce loyalty will be tested when he realizes who his brother-in-arms actually is. Meganlyn Echikunwoke plays Simone Baptiste, a woman whose life is thrown into turmoil when tragedy unexpectedly strikes.

Damien will premiere this fall. Expect to hear a solid date before Comic-Con is over.