Television

'Castle Rock' Season 2 Will Bring 'Misery' In October

castle rock season 2 date
By Chris Evangelista

The Castle Rock season 2 premiere date has been revealed. The second season of Hulu's Stephen King-inspired series will bow this October, bringing a whole new slew of King-based characters to the cursed town. This season will be heavily influenced by King's novel Misery, with Lizzy Caplan taking on the role of crazed nurse Annie Wilkes. Watch the Castle Rock season 2 date announcement below.

Castle Rock Season 2 Date Announcement

It's official: Castle Rock returns on October 23. This season features Lizzy Caplan as Annie Wilkes, the antagonist from Stephen King's Misery. For the show, she's been reimagined a bit as "a nurse dealing with mental issues who gets stuck in Castle Rock." Tim Robbins as Reginald "Pop" Merrill, a character from the King short story The Sun Dog. In King's story, Pop owns a junk shop. But in Castle Rock, he's described as "the dying head of the Merrill crime family." Robbins has a connection to King adaptations, having starred in the King-based The Shawshank Redemption.

Paul Sparks will play John "Ace" Merrill, Pop's nephew who appeared in King's The Body – the inspiration for Stand By Me – and Needful Things. Here, he "stands to take over the family business." Eighth Grade breakout Elsie Fisher portrays Joy Wilkes, Annie's daughter – who doesn't exist in King's Misery.

The rest of the cast features Yusra Warsama as Dr. Nadia Omar, "a Somali doctor employed as the Medical director at the hospital in Jerusalem's Lot." Barkhad Abdi as Abdi Omar, "Nadia's older brother who wants to strengthen Somali ties in their community." And Matthew Alan as Chris Merrill, "Ace's brother who finds himself stuck between the feud between the Merrills and the Somali community."

The second season centers on "a feud between warring clans comes to a boil when budding psychopath Annie Wilkes, Stephen King's nurse from hell, gets waylaid in Castle Rock." As a big Stephen King fan, I mostly enjoyed the first season. It had plenty of King easter eggs, and featured a strong cast. But the series ran out of steam in its final episode, resulting in a wholly unsatisfying conclusion. Here's hoping season 2 fares a little better when it arrives this October.

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