Netflix’s latest media blitz has been for its upcoming series Messiah, which follows a CIA officer as she investigates “a charismatic figure whose followers believe that he can perform miracles.” The overarching question of the series appears to be in one of the show’s tags: “Will he convert you? Will he con you,” which appears mid-way through the trailer.
Unfortunately, thanks to an apparent gaffe from showrunners, people on Twitter may already know the answer. And the series isn’t even out yet.
Muslims on Twitter quickly jumped on the trailer, which appears to delve into a story from their faith. We’ve seen plenty of different films attempt to tackle Christianity, Judaism, and Catholicism, but it is a new trend among American media to examine the Muslim faith. Messiah appears to do just that, examining one of the religion’s most well-known stories. The story of God, his prophets, and… the anti-Christ?
A massive spoiler appears to be hidden in the protagonist’s name. The film’s titular actor, Mehdi Dehbi, will portray “Al-Masih.” It was a massive hint to anyone with a knowledge of Islamic eschatology. “Al-Masih ad-Dajjal” translates to “the false messiah, liar, the deceiver” in Arabic, strongly indicating that Messiah is, in fact, about the anti-Christ’s campaign to deceive the masses.
People were quick to point this out online. User @Sultaan_Mo1 shared their predictions with their Twitter followers and was reportedly blocked by both Netflix and Messiah‘s official Twitter accounts. In their thread, @Sultaan_Mo1 breaks down why they believe the show follows Dajjal.
“These lot been reading reports about the Dajjal and decided to make a profit from it,” they wrote.
https://twitter.com/Sultaan_Mo1/status/1201963923370598400
https://twitter.com/Sultaan_Mo1/status/1201966065619783681
@Sultaan_Mo1 even included a thread explaining the history and context of the story of the Dajjal.
https://twitter.com/Sultaan_Mo1/status/1125770338695024645
https://twitter.com/Sultaan_Mo1/status/1125770341438062593
https://twitter.com/Sultaan_Mo1/status/1125770345393336322
@Sultaan_Mo1 was far from the only user to notice the apparently obvious spoiler. “Crying @ the fact that muslims figured out the twist ending of the netflix ‘messiah’ show b/c they LITERALLY NAMED THE CHARACTER DAJJAL,” one user wrote.
https://twitter.com/nabeelhussxin/status/1202560753934503938
And i remembered years ago one Ustaz i cant remember who but he ever said, “just wait and see. One day humans will even come up with a Dajjal movie”
— نور امليا (@nramilia_) December 5, 2019
And i remembered years ago one Ustaz i cant remember who but he ever said, “just wait and see. One day humans will even come up with a Dajjal movie”
— نور امليا (@nramilia_) December 5, 2019
https://twitter.com/murasakiru/status/1202590390932705280
https://twitter.com/frankoceanhafiz/status/1202382282469920771
Based on the hype, Messiah will have a large and eager audience awaiting it when it’s released on Jan. 1, 2020—whether or not we know the twist ending.
Correction: The titular character is named “Al-Masih,” according to Netflix.
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