HBO is on a roll reaching out to tech-savvy viewers with Lovecraft Country this week. Just days after they announced a new VR experience, the latest episode of the show — episode four, titled “A History of Violence” — has dropped early on HBO Max. You can watch it now. The episode takes its title from the graphic novel of the same name, which was written by John Wagner and illustrated by Vince Locke, and released in 1997 by Paradox Press and Vertigo, imprints of DC. It later got a feature film adaptation starring Tom Hanks and Superman & Lois star Tyler Hoechlin.
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Lovecraft Country stars Jonathan Majors, Jurnee Smollett-Bell, Courtney B. Vance, and Michael Kenneth Williams. The series arrives on HBO this August, though the exact date has yet to be announced.
Misha Green serves as the showrunner for Lovecraft Country, in addition to the responsibilities as one of the executive producers. Peele and Abrams also executive produce, alongside Bill Carraro, Yann Demange, Daniel Sackheim, and David Knoller. Demange and Sackheim also directed episodes of the series.
You can read the official synopsis for HBO’s Lovecraft Country below.
“The series follows Atticus Freeman (Jonathan Majors) as he joins up with his friend Letitia (Jurnee Smollett-Bell) and his Uncle George (Courtney B. Vance) to embark on a road trip across 1950s Jim Crow America in search of his missing father (Michael Kenneth Williams). This begins a struggle to survive and overcome both the racist terrors of white America and the terrifying monsters that could be ripped from a Lovecraft paperback.”
Earlier this week, HBO announced Lovecraft Country: Sanctum, a new series of virtual reality events aimed at transporting guests into a world inspired by the show. In a first-of-its-kind social VR event series, 100 influential voices will experience three events consisting of immersive theater, escape rooms, art installations, puzzles and a live concert, via the Oculus Quest headset, all inspired by Lovecraft Country. The events will be simultaneously run on the social VR platform VRChat, which allows guests to talk and interact with each other in real time within the environment, and streamed to the world via YouTube Live and interacting in real time.
The series has so far earned strong reviews and stellar ratings, putting it on a par with last year’s breakout hit Watchmen. Unlike Watchmen, though, it seems plausible we might get more than one season of Lovecraft Country.
Lovecraft Country airs Sundays at 9:00 p.m. ET/PT on HBO and is available to stream on HBO Max.
