Stephen King’s The Stand Trailer Released

The upcoming adaptation of Stephen King‘s The Stand is finally headed to CBS All Access on December 17th and while that’s still a little bit of a wait after a two-year-long production, fans of the highly anticipated series are getting something to help make that wait go by just a bit faster. The first trailer for The Stand was released tonight during the VMA’s offering fans their first glimpse of the latest adaptation of King’s apocalyptic epic.

Based on Kings 1978 novel of the same name, The Stand tells a story about the total breakdown of human society after the accidental release of an influenza strain modified for biological warfare triggers a horrific, apocalyptic pandemic that kills 99 percent of the entire world’s human population as well as most of the animal population. The official synopsis of The Stand series explains that the series is set in “a world decimated by plague and embroiled in an elemental struggle between good and evil. The fate of mankind rests on the frail shoulders of the 108-year-old Mother Abagail and a handful of survivors. Their worst nightmares are embodied in a man with a lethal smile and unspeakable powers: Randall Flagg, the Dark Man.”

‘During the two years we spent making The Stand, we all felt the responsibility of adapting what may be the most beloved work of one of the world’s most beloved storytellers, but none of us could have imagined that Stephen King’s 40-year-old masterpiece about a global pandemic would come to be so eerily relevant,” said Benjamin Cavell, showrunner and executive producer. “We’re honored to tell this sprawling, epic story, including a new coda that Stephen King has wanted to add for decades. We’re so proud of this show and its attempt to find meaning and hope in the most uncertain of times. We can’t wait to share it with the world.”

The Stand stars Whoopi Goldberg as Mother Abagail and Alexander Skarsgard as Randall Flag, aka the Dark Man. The series also stars James Marsden as Stu Redman, Odessa Young as Frannie Goldsmith, Jovan Adepo as Larry Underwood, Amber Heard as Nadine Cross, Owen Teague as Harold Lauder, Henry Zaga as Nick Andros, Brad William Henke as Tom Cullen, Irene Bedard as Ray Bretner, Nat Wolff as Lloyd Henreid, Eion Bailey as Weizak, Heather Graham as Rita Blakemoor, Katherine McNamara as Julie Lawry, Fiona Dourif as Ratwoman, Natalie Martinez as Dayna Jurgens, Hamish Linklater as Dr. Jim Ellis, Daniel Sunjata as Cobb, and Greg Kinnear as Glen Bateman.

Benjamin Cavell serves as both showrunner and executive producer alongside Taylor Elmore, Will Weiske, Jimmy Miller, Roy Lee and Richard P. Rubinstein. The New Mutants filmmaker Josh Boone serves as director and an executive producer for the series premiere and final episode. Jake Braver, Jill Killington, Owen King, Knate Lee, and Stephen Welke also produce.

The Stand debuts on CBS All Access December 17th.