The Stand Premiere Episode Photos Released

The Stand debuts on CBS All Access on Thursday, December 17th and ahead of the premiere of the adaptation of the Stephen King novel of the same name CBS has released photos from the nine-part series first episode, "The End". The episode will kick off the story, introducing viewers to a world in which a flu epidemic has wiped out most of the worlds' population. The episode will also introduce viewers to some of the story's main characters, including Stu Redman (James Marsden), Frannie Goldsmith (Odessa Young), and Harold Lauder (Owen Teague).

While the story of The Stand sees a pandemic as its catalyst -- something that may, for some, feel a little too close to home considering the current COVID-19 pandemic -- series executive producers Benjamin Cavell and Taylor Elmore recently told ComicBook.com that The Stand isn't about a pandemic. It just happens to have a pandemic in it.

"The fact is for both of us, the book's not really about a pandemic," Cavell said. "I mean, there is a pandemic in the book and it kind of creates the circumstances for an empty world, you know, across which our characters can walk to Mordor, but you know the story is not the story of a pandemic. And that's a big part of why we are telling this in a nonlinear way, that we didn't want to just go through this very linear story in which the first three episodes are all about a pandemic and the kind of death of the world. I mean, this book is about what comes after and this elemental struggle between good and evil. And that was going to be the story we were telling whether there was a pandemic or not in the real world."

You can check out the description for the first episode of The Stand, "The End" below and read on for photos from the upcoming episode.

When the "Captain Trips" flu epidemic wipes out more than 99% of the population, the remaining few immune to the disease, including Stu Redman, Frannie Goldsmith, and Harold Lauder, set out in search of other survivors, all the while, experiencing visions of the nurturing Mother Abagail and the menacing figure of The Dark Man.

The Stand is set to premiere on Thursday, December 17. New episodes will premiere weekly exclusively for CBS All Access subscribers.