So it’s come to this: a trailer for a cinematic universe (even one on television) that consists entirely of diagrams of the links between different intellectual properties. True, Stephen King has been linking his novels into one semi-coherent multiverse for decades, even writing an entire series about the elaborate metaphysics that link his fictional universes. Still, even if this teaser for Hulu’s J.J. Abrams production Castle Rock seems like a natural next step from “Oh my God, Spider-Man is in Captain America: Civil War” marketing, there’s something to be said for giving the audience some idea of what the show might be like, instead of what is essentially a list of elements from Stephen King novels and short stories that might appear on it.
Or they might not! While most of the words and phrases in the teaser come from works that are set in or directly related to King’s fictional town of Castle Rock, Maine, some of the connections aren’t so obvious. Although there are other characters who have distant ties to the town (a few people are mentioned doing time at Shawshank State Prison, for example) here’s the only place Castle Rock is directly mentioned in It:
“It can’t be!” Beverly cried. “I would have read about it in the paper … seen it on the news! When that crazy cop killed all those women in Castle Rock, Maine … and those children that were murdered in Atlanta …”
The “crazy cop” Beverly Marsh is referring to appears in The Dead Zone, set in Castle Rock. And yet, to hear the trailer tell it, Castle Rock will feature Pennywise, Pennywise victim George Denbrough, Pennywise sort-of-victim Henry Bowers, Pennywise conquerors the Losers Club, and many more. And that’s with a feature adaptation of It on its way to theaters this fall, to say nothing of this summer’s film of The Dark Tower. And then there are all the characters from Salem’s Lot (1975) and The Shining (1977); King never mentioned Castle Rock at all until The Dead Zone, in 1979. In short, it’s an intellectual property lawyer’s bonanza—or it’s just designed to remind us how much we love Stephen King characters. Either way, it’s a lot to promise for a 10-episode show. We can only hope this this trend toward fleshing out the Stephen King Expanded Universe will eventually lead to the Stephen King TV adaptation we really want to see: Swim the Crocodiles, the self-explanatory game show briefly mentioned in The Running Man.
