Adult Swim greenlights live-action ‘Black Jesus’

Adult Swim appears to be inviting controversy with its latest live-action offering, the just-greenlit half-hour series “Black Jesus.”

The series, from “The Boondocks” creator Aaron McGruder, is based on the premise that Jesus is back on Earth in the modern era and living in Compton, a crime-ridden suburb of Los Angeles. There, he carries out his mission of preaching love and understanding with the help of his small group of disciples. Although that’s all the information Adult Swim provided about the series, one suspects it’ll have considerably more edge than the standard Trinity Broadcasting Network fare.

Newcomer Gerald “Slink” Johnson will play Black Jesus. And if his voice sounds familiar, it’s because he was one of the voice actors in “Grand Theft Auto V,” uttering some very un-Jesus-like language.

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Other performers in the series will include Charlie Murphy, Corey Holcomb and John Witherspoon. The series is shooting in Los Angeles and set to premiere during the Adult Swim block of programming on Cartoon Network this year.

McGruder will serve as executive producer on the series alongside writer-director Mike Clattenberg, Norman Aladjem and John Bravakis.

The fourth season of McGruder’s animated “Boondocks” series will premiere on Adult Swim in April.

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