The truly horrific year we’re living through has got us all seeking escapism wherever we can find it — whether that’s through impromptu cricket matches on Peckham High Street or the otherwise inexplicable popularity of Emily in Paris — but at the same time, it is spooky season, and we need a good horror too. Cue the newly released trailer for upcoming TV mini-series The Stand, an apocalyptic tale about a killer virus that brings about the apocalypse. Neat!
Based on the mammoth novel, first published back in 1978, the series is about a weaponised, highly contagious and highly lethal strain of the flu virus that wipes out almost the entire human race. A group of survivors form factions and a post-apocalyptic society of their own, but obviously, this is Stephen King, so twisted events, violence and horror ensue.
The Stand was first adapted for TV a while ago — it had a mini-series back in 1994 — but now it’s getting a prescient 2020 update, produced by the author’s son, Owen King, on CBS All Access. The first trailer for the series, which stars Amber Heard, Odessa Young, Whoopi Goldberg and Alexander Skarsgård (as the villain, obviously), has just dropped as part of New York Comic Con’s virtual event, and it looks suitably chilling on the eve of a tiered lockdown and six more months of pandemic fun!
Check out the trailer for The Stand here ahead of the pilot episode’s release on 17 December. Just in time for a socially distant Christmas!