Fun
Frisky
Nostalgic
Intense
Adventurous
Choked Up
Curious
Romantic
Weird
At the rate Netflix is pumping out shows, you might have glanced at the promo art for their upcoming series Locke & Key and instantly thought, “oh, here we go, another disposable spooky drama.” Or you may have seen the Locke & Key trailer that dropped yesterday and thought, “oh, here we go, another epic series that looks great.” First: why are you so bored by everything? Second! Locke & Key is actually based on a best-selling comic book series by writer Joe Hill and artist Gabriel Rodriguez. It’s a dark fantasy that has more in line with, say, Stranger Things meets Haunting of Hill House, than teen focused supernatural dramas like The Order or The Society.
It’s also, full disclosure, my favorite comic book series of all time, and I could not be more pumped to finally see it make its way to screen. So pumped, I broke down 27 key moments from the trailer. Yes, that pumped.
We’ve still got a while until the 10 episode long first season debuts in February, but in the meantime here’s a spoiler-free primer on what you need to know to jump right into the series… And I hope you all appreciate the immense restraint it took to not use the words lock, key, or any variation in this intro. Except for that last sentence, when I did.
What is Locke & Key?
Great opening question, my best and only friend! Locke & Key is a comic book series written by Joe Hill, drawn by Gabriel Rodriguez, with colors by Jay Fotos and letters by Robbie Robbins. The series was edited by Chris Ryall, for IDW Publishing. When the first issue was released in 2008, it sold out in a single day, and they were off to the races. Metaphorically, I’m pretty sure they didn’t immediately bet all the money made on horses, but who knows!
Right, but what’s the concept of Locke & Key?
Oh, I see what you were getting at. After the Locke family patriarch Rendell Locke is murdered by one of his students (he’s a high school guidance counselor), the remaining family members move back to his ancestral home in Lovecraft, Massachusetts. There, they discover mysterious, magical keys, each with their own abilities. They also discover a strange, evil entity living in the well by the house who wants those keys — though for what purpose we’ll stay quiet about for the moment.
Who are the main characters in the comic?
The Locke family! I just said that. The mom is Nina Locke, an alcoholic who was wrecked by the death of her husband. Bode Locke is the youngest son, a precocious kid excited about the magical keys who helps kick off the action. Second youngest is Kinsey Locke, who is grappling with the death of her father by retreating inside herself and initially shunning all other human contact. And the oldest is Tyler Locke, a bro dude who blames himself for not stopping Rendell’s student, Sam Lesser, from killing his dad.
There’s also the woman in the well, who we later find out is named Dodge. She’s terrifying, and lives in a well (at least, at first). Sam is also an important character in the first volume of the comic series, “Welcome to Lovecraft,” as he may not only be working with Dodge, but has some unfinished business with the Locke family, as well. Sam does not, however, live in a well.
Wait, there’s more than one volume of the comic?
Sure is? Are? I never get that one right. There are six volumes total, each broken into about six issues (the final volume is seven). Each mini-series tells its own story, building to the final confrontation with Dodge. Those volumes are: “Welcome to Lovecraft,” “Head Games,” Crown of Shadows,” “Keys to the Kingdom,” “Clockworks,” and “Alpha & Omega.” There were also a few one-shot issues that showed different eras of the Locke family (and others) as they encounter the keys, which are collectively called “The Golden Age.” And the series isn’t quite done yet: later this year, Hill and Rodriguez will return to the series for another potentially six volume long epic titled “World War Key,” which will flash back through time while continuing the adventures of the Locke family in the present.
You keep mentioning this “Joe Hill” guy, why do I know that name?
Well, so here’s the thing: he’s Stephen King and Tabitha King’s son. However, in order to build a career on his own merits, rather than coast on his Dad’s rep as “Mr. Spooky Books,” he went by the pen name of Joe Hill (his full name is Joseph Hillström King). Once he had built a career, the news became public; but by that point he already had a long career as a short fiction writer, and his first published novel hit the New York Times bestseller list. Soon after, Locke & Key kicked off. Since then, he’s published several more novels and collections, and his work has been adapted a few times. Most notably the Alexandre Aja directed/Daniel Radcliffe starring Horns, AMC’s NOS4A2 (which has been picked up for a second season) and Netflix’s Vincenzo Natali directed In The Tall Grass, an adaptation of a novella by Hill and Stephen King.
Ah, so that’s why Netflix instantly picked up Locke & Key!
Uhhh… Not quite. In fact, Locke & Key was initially going to be a movie, or movie trilogy, first from Dimension Films, then adapted by the Star Trek team of Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci. That eventually morphed into a pilot for FOX, which was directed by Marc Romanek. That pilot did not get picked up, and the property sat around for a while. Then Hulu picked it up, and filmed a new pilot, with a new script and cast. That wasn’t picked up, though Hill kept working with the Hulu team of Carlton Cuse and Andy Muschetti. They rewrote the script and entirely recast the show (except for the actor playing Bode) and it got picked up to series by Netflix. Finally, after over a decade of development, Locke & Key is officially making it to screen.
Very cool… So what is the Locke & Key premiere date?
Locke & Key premieres on Netflix on February 7, 2020. As usual with the service, all 10 episodes in Season 1 will post at 3:01am ET / 12:01am PT. So if you wake up right on time, you can be all done with Season 1 by 1pm ET-ish. Don’t do that, though, your health is important.
Is Season 1 of Locke & Key a straight adaptation of “Welcome To Lovecraft”?
Hardly. In fact, right up top the name of the town has been changed to Matheson, presumably because H.P. Lovecraft has become a pretty complicated/maligned horror figure since Locke & Key was first published, while Richard Matheson is still the bee’s knees. Without getting into too many specifics, though, expect the first season to be its own vision of the story, and pluck elements from throughout the run. Basically: yes, definitely read “Welcome to Lovecraft” before you watch the show because it’s excellent; but you might be wise to check out all six volumes if you want the full picture.
So will there be a Season 2?
Too early to tell on that front — Netflix rarely announces Season 2 pickups earlier than a month after the release date. But regardless of how they hit the story in Season 1, there’s a ridiculous amount of history and lore packed into the books that they can pull on for years to come.
Who is in the Locke & Key cast?
Jackson Robert Scott, who you might recognize as Georgie from IT, stars as Bode Locke, which he also played in the scrapped Hulu pilot. Connor Jessup (American Crime) plays Tyler Locke, Emilia Jones is Kinsey Locke, and Scandal star Darby Stanchfield plays Nina Locke. Laysla De Oliveria plays Dodge, and the cast is fleshed out by Sherri Saum as Lovecraft Academy’s coach Ellie Whedon, Griffin Gluck as her son Gabe, Petrice Jones as Kinsey’s love interest Scot, and Thomas Mitchell Barnet as the murderous Sam Lesser.
Is there a Locke & Key trailer?
Sure is! You can watch it above.
Hey, I forgot to ask, is there anything else you would like to disclose about your love for Locke & Key?
…I should probably mention that since I was a big booster of the book since it launched, and love it dearly, I was surprised and honored to be drawn into one of the issues as classic comic book character Dr. Zalben. “He” doesn’t show up until the end of the fourth volume (“Keys to the Kingdom #6”), though, so I assume the whole TV series is building up to that? We’ll all just have to binge the show so hard it definitely gets picked up for Season 4, so we can all finally see this beloved character brought to life on screen.
