'The Stand' Trailer: Whoopi Goldberg And Alexander Skarsgård Face Off In The Miniseries Adaptation Of Stephen King's Classic Novel

It might seem a weird time for CBS All Access to release its TV miniseries adaptation of Stephen King's pandemic apocalypse thriller The Stand, but perhaps it will be a form of escape to see a pandemic-stricken Earth become a battleground between good and evil. King's epic novel is getting a 10-episode miniseries adaptation featuring a star-studded cast that includes James Marsden, Amber Heard, Greg Kinnear, Odessa Young, Whoopi Goldberg. Watch The Stand trailer below.

Whoopi Goldberg stars as Abigail Freemantle, a spiritual leader who draws the good survivors of the plague to her rural farmhouse, called the Boulder Free Zone. Alexander Skarsgård strikes a chilling figure as the supernatural baddie Randall Flagg, who draws the bad plague survivors to him in Las Vegas, now dubbed New Vegas. The two communities prepare for some kind of all-out war in the new The Stand trailer, which is much more action-packed than the ominous first trailer, which focused on the post-apocalyptic setting of the series, with many shots of people wandering abandoned streets. This time, the residents of the Boulder Free Zone are gearing up to go against "the Dark Man," as Abigail dubs him, Skarsgård's embodiment of pure evil who has appeared in at least nine of King's novels as a supernatural antagonist to many of his characters. Skarsgård is well-cast, appearing like some kind of hedonistic prophet, in stark contrast to Goldberg's kindly old leader.

Other characters in The Stand include James Marsden as Stu Redman, the closest thing the story has to an everyman hero; Odessa Young as Frannie Goldsmith, who discovers she's pregnant right before the plague breaks out; Owen Teague as Harold Lauder, an insecure guy who has a crush on Frannie; Nat Wolff as Lloyd Henreid, a convict who becomes Flagg's right-hand-man; Jovan Adepo as Larry Underwood, a musician who has a hit song just as the virus starts killing people; and Heather Graham as Rita Blakemoor, a lonely woman Larry travels with along the way.

Josh Boone, who has been attached to a new Stand adaptation for a few years now, directs the first episode, while Benjamin Cavell and Taylor Elmore serve as showrunners.

Here is the synopsis for The Stand:

Based on the best-selling novel by Stephen King, CBS All Access's The Stand stars Whoopi Goldberg, Alexander Skarsgård, James Marsden, Odessa Young, Jovan Adepo, and many more. The limited event series will also feature an all-new coda written by Stephen King.

The Stand arrives on CBS All Access on December 17, 2020.