Them Creator Little Marvin Explains Why He Chose 1991 for Season 2

Little Marvin reveals why Them: The Scare moved its setting from 1952 to 1991 in Los Angeles.

April 26, 2024, 3:10pm

Little Marvin, the creator behind Them: The Scare, reveals why he chose 1991 as the setting for its second season. The first season of the Prime Video horror anthology series, titled Them: Covenant, took viewers back to Compton in the year 1952, when a Black family from North Carolina relocated to the City of Angels. Them: The Scare is still based in Los Angeles but this time takes place in 1991, which was a tumultuous time for the area when you factor in the Rodney King video surfacing. Some of this played a factor in why Little Marvin chose to explore this time period.

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ComicBook.com spoke to Little Marvin ahead of the premiere of Them: The Scare, where he was asked if there was any consideration for other time periods, and why he settled on 1991. “There was a socio-cultural import to it, but there was also an artistic and creative nerd impulse about it,” Marvin said. “Socio-culturally, it was a very fraught time in LA history. The Rodney King tape came out to the world and sent shockwaves to the city in the days our show takes place. I thought that would be an interesting journey, to watch a woman and a detective navigate the complexity of the city at that time.”

He added, “I would also say that just as a nerd of the ’90s and as a kid of that time, I’m obsessed with that time. Just like many people, I’m nostalgic for that time. I love the music, I love the movies. It dawned on me it would be possible in 1991 to go to a theater and see Misery, Silence of the Lambs, Cape Fear… Boys N the Hood, Terminator 2, Edward Scissorhands, Thelma & Louise, it was a litany of bangers that happened in 1991. From an artistic perspective, it fulfilled every dream, frankly.”

What is Prime Video’s Them: The Scare about?

THEM will once again be set in Los Angeles (the first installment, subtitled Covenant, took place in Compton circa 1952 but will move the time frame forward to 1991). The story centers on LAPD Homicide Detective Dawn Reeve, who is assigned to a new case: the gruesome murder of a foster home mother that has left even the most hardened detectives shaken. Navigating a tumultuous time in Los Angeles, with a city on the razor’s edge of chaos, Dawn is determined to stop the killer. But as she draws closer to the truth, something ominous and malevolent grips her and her family…

The series cast includes Deborah Ayorinde (Riches, Harriet) as “Detective Dawn Reeve,” Pam Grier (Foxy Brown, Bones, Ghost of Mars, Jackie Brown) as “Athena,” Grammy-nominated musician and actor Luke James (The Chi, Insecure) as “Edmund Gaines.” Rounding out the cast are Joshua J. Williams (Cloak & Dagger, Mudbound), Jeremy Bobb (The Continental, God’s Country), Wayne Knight (Seinfeld, Narcos), Carlito Olivero (This Is Me… Now, Escape Room: Tournament of Champions), Charles Brice (Homeland, The Blacklist, Watchmen), and Iman Shumpert (The Chi).