Fans who've been eagerly awaiting the premiere of the new mini-series for the CBS All Access version of The Stand may still have a while to wait, but, luckily, we've been treated to pretty regular updates and snippets of footage for several months now. This tale of a big showdown between good and evil after a superflu ravages the population (ahem...), has already given us good looks at stars like Whoopi Goldberg, Amber Heard, James Marsden, Odessa Young and Irene Bedard, but now the first full trailer has revealed Alexander Skarsgard’s bloody take on Stephen King's villain, Randall Flagg.
Now, we've certainly seen Alexander Skarsgard in action as Randall Flagg for The Stand a little bit, but the full trailer gives us a much better look at the Big Bad, and, as you might expect, he's having some bloody good fun trying to bring about the end of all the world's goodness. Take a look, so we can discuss afterward!
Um, OK. You know, I have been known to watch a lot of creepy stuff, while still trying to keep my distance from horror and things that will unsettle me more deeply, but this? I fully anticipate being shaken to my core should I tune in for The Stand when it debuts on December 17, but I don't believe I'll be able to not tune in. That's right, folks. I'm sold.
Really, when has a smiley face button suddenly winking at you ever been more menacing than it is here? I've never read Stephen King's book, so I don't know if that moment is in there or has a wider significance than its obvious creep factor, but it's clear that Skarsgard's bearded and pompadoured embodiment of evil is nobody to mess around with.
But, mess around is exactly what Goldberg's Mother Abagail (embodiment of good) and her team of wanna-be saviors of humanity will do as they try to rebuild some form of a democratic society in Boulder, Colorado. Meanwhile, Flagg and his minions of lawlessness do pretty much the exact opposite from their base in Las Vegas, even going so far as to get a weapons program started. Never mind food and fresh water during the apocalypse, I guess. Randall Flagg and his evil folks can just live from the thrill of the deaths of their enemies. Or their friends. Pretty much anything goes with that group.
As someone who is skeptical any time something is set to be remade (The Stand already had a mini-series back in 1994), even I really can't argue with what appear to be the results here. The Stand looks like a good time. And by "good time" I mean a show that will probably make me sleep with the lights on every night well into February, as I contemplate good, evil and the end of the world as we know it. Sounds like a fitting way to head into the new year, doesn't it?
We can all see how things turn out for Alexander Skarsgard's bloody Randall Flagg and everyone else who's trapped in the hellscape of The Stand when the 10-part series hits CBS All Access on December 17. For more to watch in the coming weeks, though, be sure to check out our fall TV premiere guide!
