NOS4A2: Christmasland is coming to AMC, are you ready?
By Carla Davis
A premier date has finally been announced for AMC’s highly anticipated upcoming horror series NOS4A2, based on Joe Hill’s novel of the same name. Along with that news, we also got a new trailer, which is longer than the previously released teasers dropped by AMC, and tells a bit more of the story.
The marketing for NOS4A2 has been strong so far, with photos and teaser trailers being released little by little, and advance screenings of the first episode presented at several conventions. Word from those fortunate enough to have seen one of the screenings has been mostly positive, and some enticing tidbits of info have been given. For example, while main character Vic McQueen is introduced to us as a child in the novel, the series picks up during her teen years, shortly before she first encounters the evil Charlie Manx.
The first episode of NOS4A2 is set to debut Sunday, June 2, immediately following the season premier of Fear the Walking Dead. If you subscribe to AMC Premiere, you can catch the entire first season on the same date.
Let’s talk about this new trailer. It looks like it features nearly every character, and the Christmasland scenes are snowy and breathtaking. A little trivia on that: The Walking Dead showrunner Angela Kang said in an interview with Entertainment Weekly that the same company bringing Christmasland to life in NOS4A2 also provided the snow for Sunday night’s TWD season finale.
The trailer shows us one of Manx’s victims as well, a little boy with a terrifying grin that shows a mouthful of razor sharp teeth. The child sits in the back seat of Manx’s car, a long, black Dodge Wraith. And a scattering of Scrabble tiles (spelling out “THE BRAT”) introduces us to Maggie Leigh, played by Jahkara Smith (Sailor J), who uses the game pieces as a psychic tool.
NOS4A2 – Courtesy AMC
We see Manx in both of his forms, old and weak, and young and powerful. Manx has the ability to regain his youth and strength by sucking the life force from innocent children, keeping their vampiric forms trapped in his lair, known as Christmasland.
Vic travels to Christmasland (and most other places) on her trusty motorcycle, and the trailer shows quite a bit of that. She drives across the Shorter Way Bridge, which helps her find lost things. We see her take a tumble, and as she lies on the pavement, she has her first interaction with Maggie.
NOS4A2 – Courtesy AMC
NOS4A2‘s first season will recreate the first third of the novel, so, in theory, we should see at least three seasons. With the first season ordered at ten episodes, I expect there is plenty of story in the big, meaty novel to fill 30 episodes. That’s a good thing, because when you love books, there is nothing worse than eagerly watching a movie or series, only to find that tons of good stuff was cut to fit within the short time allotted to tell the story.
As a fan of the novel, this trailer has me really excited to see the series, and I am happy the premier date was finally announced. I think Fear the Walking Dead will be the perfect lead-in for this intense, frightening series.
What do you think of the first full trailer for NOS4A2? Does it have you intrigued enough to watch? Let me know what you think in the comments section.