Most of the debut season of Castle Rock focused on new characters in the narrative that unfolded in the iconic Stephen King community, though the upcoming season will focus on one of the author’s most iconic villains, Annie Wilkes from Misery, who is featured front and center in the above trailer. Given that the first season featured only a handful of references to lesser-known characters and events tangential to some of the author’s more famous stories, seeing Wilkes be highlighted to a stronger degree has many fans excited to see how she will be utilized in an all-new narrative. The second season of Castle Rock debuts on Hulu on October 23rd.
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In Season Two, a feud between warring clans comes to a boil when budding psychopath Annie Wilkes (Caplan), Stephen King’s nurse from hell, gets waylaid in Castle Rock.
A psychological-horror series set in the Stephen King multiverse, Castle Rock combines the mythological scale and intimate character storytelling of King’s best-loved works, weaving an epic saga of darkness and light, played out on a few square miles of Maine woodland. The fictional Maine town of Castle Rock has figured prominently in King’s literary career: Cujo, The Dark Half, IT, and Needful Things, as well as novella The Body and numerous short stories such as Rita Hayworth and The Shawshank Redemption are either set there or contain references to Castle Rock. Castle Rock is an original suspense/thriller โ a first-of-its-kind reimagining that explores the themes and worlds uniting the entire King canon, while brushing up against some of his most iconic and beloved stories.
While the first season of the series offered audiences an engaging storyline, some fans were disappointed with how it only barely touched upon King’s massive body of work, with this new season set to draw more heavily from those stories. In addition to more familiar elements, the new season is set to bring a more tense storyline.
“We wanted to evolve the look on a visual level, and move [more] and be with characters more,” director Greg Yaitanes previously shared with IndieWire. “One of the things that worked well with [Season One episode] ‘The Queen‘ was point of view. That episode had a strong point of view of character, so [we’re] bringing that into Annie’s story and giving the show [โฆ] more urgency this year, more tension. We’re taking the things that worked well in Season One and taking them up a level.”
Another exciting element of the upcoming season is that it will include references to the town Jerusalem’s Lot, made famous in King’s story Salem’s Lot, featuring a man who returned to his hometown, only to discover it had been infiltrated by vampires.
“We’re seeing more of Castle Rock than we did last year. It’s set back in the town,” Yaitanes confirmed. “We’re going back to familiar places, and [also] new places the story didn’t touch on.”
Castle Rock Season Two will premiere on Hulu on October 23rd.
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