Chris Hardwick's Blog, page 15

Acclaimed LIFE IS STRANGE Games Getting Live-Action Series

With the likes of narrative-driven games The Last of Us and Fallout becoming uber-acclaimed and successful television series, it only makes sense for more to roll out. Prime Video, the makers of Fallout, just announced another such project. The long-running adventure game franchise Life Is Strange has received a live-action series order from Amazon MGM Studios. Charlie Covell (End of the F***ing World, KAOS) will serve as creator, executive producer, and showrunner.Square Enix

“It’s a huge honor to be adapting Life Is Strange for Amazon MGM Studios,” said showrunner Charlie Covell. “I am a massive fan of the game, and I’m thrilled to be working with the incredible teams at Square Enix, Story Kitchen and LuckyChap. I can’t wait to share Max and Chloe’s story with fellow players and new audiences alike.”

The game follows Max, a photography student, who discovers she can rewind time while saving the life of her childhood best friend, Chloe. As she struggles to understand this new skill, the pair investigate the mysterious disappearance of a fellow student. This results in uncovering a dark side to their town that will ultimately force them to make an impossible life or death choice that will impact them forever. Our own Dan Casey likes to refer to Life Is Strange as “Teen Peaks,” owing to the deep-ceded, semi-supernatural mysteries in a Pacific Northwest town.

The Life Is Strange franchise began in 2015 as a five-episode adventure game. This then spawned a prequel, various spinoffs, DLC, and four mainline entries. The most recent of these, Life Is Strange: Double Exposure, dropped only last year.

No word yet on timing for this, so we can assume at least a couple years. But when that happens, we will let you know everything. It’s what we do after all.

Kyle Anderson is the Senior Editor for Nerdist. He hosts the weekly pop culture deep-dive podcast Laser Focus. You can find his film and TV reviews here. Follow him on Letterboxd.

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HHN’s FALLOUT House Contains Season 2 Teases

Fallout season two is finally heading our way. The second chapter of the beloved series, which successfully adapts the popular and complicated world of the Fallout games, will arrive on our screens on December 17. As we approach the release time, we anticipate the traditional slew of teasers, trailers, and posters hinting at the Fallout story to come. But those eager for any and all teases of what awaits us in Fallout season two can now turn to an unlikely source, the Fallout House at Halloween Horror Nights Orlando. Yes, Universal Orlando actually worked with the team at Prime Video to make the Fallout house while season two of Fallout was in production. And that means that the Fallout House at Halloween Horror Nights 2025 has official hints at what’s to come in Fallout season two. Let’s dive into what season two secrets you can unearth in the Fallout House. Nerdist

Halloween Horror Nights Confirms Prime Video Put Some Official Fallout Season 2 Teases Into Its House

Universal Orlando’s Senior Director of Entertainment Creative Development, Michael Aiello, revealed to the press how Halloween Horror Nights incorporated Fallout season two into its world. He shared, “It’s really been a great relationship between us and Amazon and Bethesda to really bring this franchise to life. And we cannot be more excited. We definitely took a montage style of narrative, so we could span all three storylines that exist: Lucy, Maximus, and The Ghoul. You’re getting all three of those narratives as you go through the experience. It was really important to capture as much of the series as we possibly could… AND even maybe tease a little bit of Fallout season two.”

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Lora Sauls, Assistant Director of Creative Development and Show Direction for Universal Orlando’s Halloween Horror Nights, added more to this sentiment, sharing, “Halloween Horror Nights got to work with our Amazon partners as they were filming season two of Fallout and in production on season two. So it was a great partnership, and yes, they actually did some things for us to tease season two while they were filming season two.” Well, that certainly set our antennas spinning.

What Fallout Season 2 Teases Can You Find at Universal Orlando’s Halloween Horror Nights House?

But that, of course, leads to the crucial question: WHAT exactly does Universal Orlando reveal about Fallout season two? Well, in our opinion, the Fallout season two teases come at the very end of the Halloween Horror Nights House. After you see the big battle between the Brotherhood and Moldaver’s compound, a road sign greets you to tell you where you’re heading. Why yes, you’re taking Route 515 on the 93/93 north to Las Vegas, and the exit is coming up.

But, of course, we already knew we were heading to New Vegas in Fallout season two. The end of season one (and many subsequent interviews) made that clear. It’s more what’s happening on the sign that catches our eye. Halloween Horror Nights employs many technologies and tricks to create its scares. And in the Fallout House, we see shadows dancing on the Las Vegas exit sign that spell a season two tease.

In the first teaser trailer for Fallout‘s second season, we caught just the barest glimpse of a Deathclaw in the darkness. But now, Halloween Horror Nights’ Fallout House confirms we’re going to see a WHOLE lot more of the creature in action when Fallout season two comes around. The shadows illuminated on the Las Vegas sign in the Fallout Horror Nights House reveals a magnificent Deathclaw roaring to life, full belly bellow and all. And, of course, it’s showing off its claws. On the sign, we see the Deathclaw stalk out onto the scene, stop to roar, and then lash out with its claws. And, yes, it looks spikey, yikes!

We knew we’d see at least one Deathclaw, but now we can be sure the Fallout foe will be a major part of season two. It seems like it is THE creature stalking New Vegas. We just hope it takes a bite out of the right person.

Fallout Season 2 Is Coming Soon

We don’t know too much about Fallout season two yet, but here’s the official synopsis of the upcoming chapter: “The new season will pick up in the aftermath of Season One’s epic finale and take audiences along for a journey through the wasteland of the Mojave to the post-apocalyptic city of New Vegas.“

As the Halloween Horror Nights Fallout House promises us, to Vegas we go in season two! The season will release its first episode on December 17 and then will release one episode weekly until February 4, 2026. You can check out Fallout‘s full release schedule here. Fallout streams on Prime Video.

We can’t wait to get back to the Wasteland and meet some Deathclaws.

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Sad News Alert: Eating Cheese Can Give You Nightmares

A few years ago, we told you about a study that paid people to eat cheese. You certainly don’t have to pay me to eat cheese, but who doesn’t love extra cash? Unfortunately, the study was to see if eating cheese causes nightmares. Well, it seems that this is true, according to a study by Frontiers in Psychology. (Thanks to Foodbeast for bringing this to our attention.) 

Lactose-intolerant people who consume dairy are more likely to have nightmares, especially if they eat cheese later in the day. I’d imagine the nightmares wouldn’t last long because, well, you’ll probably wake up with an upset stomach before you have a meeting in the bathroom. Out of 1,000 participants, almost twice as many women reported poor sleep compared to men.

Shutterstock/Paramount Pictures

When they were asked if they believed food influenced their sleep, 40% of participants said yes. And one in every four of them said that dairy, sweets, and spicy dishes are to blame. I guess we should all start having much more bland dinners, but I ain’t giving up cheese.

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James Gunn Says PEACEMAKER Season 2 Leads Directly to SUPERMAN Sequel

James Gunn isn’t wasting any time getting David Corenswet’s Clark Kent back on the big screen. This week he announced his Superman sequel, Man of Tomorrow, will arrive in theaters in the summer of 2027. That’s a much faster turnaround than we expected. Now the DCU’s creative head has revealed we will get a big clue for what to expect from his follow-up very soon. He said Man of Tomorrow‘s “prequel,” Peacemaker season 2, leads “directly” into the film.

DCU co-CEO and prolific poster James Gunn took to social media to promote this week’s episode of Peacemaker. His message included what appeared to be a playful reference to his announcement earlier in the week. He wrote, “Watch the Man of Tomorrow Prequel AKA #Peacemaker Season 2, airing a new episode tonight on @HBOMax at 9 pm EST/6 pm PST.”

On it’s own that sounds like a fun little joke. But when (as IGN noted) a commenter suggested he was just kidding, Gunn confirmed he wasn’t. He said Peacemaker‘s latest story will “directly” lead into his Superman sequel.

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What exactly could that mean? Considering Peacemaker season two is partly taking place in a parallel dimension—after Gunn’s Superman featured a pocket dimension—the possibilities are quite literally infinite. It could involve anyone or anything. However, this also might reveal something about other DCU projects coming out between Peacemaker season 2 and Man of Tomorrow.

They could all be much more of a standalone story than we expected. That includes major releases like the Supergirl and Clayface movies and the HBO Lanterns series.

Jim Lee/James Gunn/DC Studios

If Peacemaker leads directly-directly into Man of Tomorrow there won’t be space for other stories in-between. Maybe. Forget the multiverse. When the DCU has already featured Christopher Smith killing Christopher Smith, anything is possible.

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KFC Jelly Beans Turn Fried Chicken and Gravy Into ‘Sweet’ Treats

Like Bruce Wayne putting on his Caped Crusader suit when he sees the Bat-Signal, like Rohan answering the Beacons of Gondor, I have been summoned. I too will rise to the challenge. Only, I face a far more perilous road, one paved not with glory but with pain. It’s a path where the only foes I will face are my own tastebuds. Because KFC is getting real weird again. The fast food chain’s latest bizarre culinary crossover is a bag of savory jelly beans.

My promise to you, beloved readers, is that, as always, no matter the cost or danger, I will eat these jelly beans. I will eat fried chicken, sweet corn, and gravy-flavored candies for you.

KFC/Frankford Candy

KFC has partnered with Frankford Candy for an unlikely bag of not-so-sweet treats. Well, the sweet corn ones are technically sweet, but the other two flavors you’ll find in KFC Favorite Jellybeans definitely aren’t. Not really going out on a limb predicting the bag’s fried chicken and gravy jelly beans will hew on the savory side. Eleven herbs and spices worth of savory, to be specific.

This is just the latest unexpected KFC product to hit the market. In the last few years we’ve seen Kentucky Fried Chicken toothpaste, chicken-scented Crocs, candles, a sexy Lifetime movie starring Mario Lopez, an 11 herbs and spices fire log, and a Colonel Sanders dating sim.

Why so many unusual products? The fact we just told you all about them should answer that question.

As for the most pressing one, you’ll be able to get these candies in 2026. While you can find KFC Favorite Jellybeans listed on Redstone Foods website right now, they won’t actually be available until next year in time for Easter 2026.

When they do, I’ll be ready. I might not be Batman or the King of Rohan, but you don’t need either to answer this call. They’re not the ones who answer when someone makes weird candy. I am.

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Is PEACEMAKER’S ‘Perfect’ Alt-Universe Secretly Anything But?

So far in Peacemaker season two, the alternate universe Christopher Smith (John Cena) stumbled into has seemed like a perfect world. His racist and abusive father, Auggie (Robert Patrick), is a loving dad that he fights crime with. His brother Keith (David Denman) is alive and well, and also his superhero partner. And although things fell apart with his Emelia Harcourt (Jennifer Holland), it seems she’s more than willing to try to make things work. The cherry on top is that Peacemaker is a beloved superhero in this world, famous as part of the crime-fighting Top Trio, along with his dad and brother.

But one Instagram user by the name of isuperbba believes the alt-world is very much the opposite of perfect, and in fact is a world ruled by white supremacists. Perhaps even a world where the Nazis won World War II. He presents his case below, and he’s definitely got us convinced.

After watching the third episode of Peacemaker season two, and spending a good amount of time in the alt-world, we think this theory is almost certainly true. So far, every background character in town we see, as well as every single A.R.G.U.S. agent, is Caucasian. Peacemaker’s father isn’t angry and abusive because why would he be in this world? On this Earth, having hateful views is the norm, and he wouldn’t be a pariah; he’d be a hero. Even the rock music posters on Chris’s wall in the alt-world are only bands fronted by white artists. The circumstantial evidence is fairly overwhelming.

HBO Max/DC Comics

Then there’s the newspaper clipping that shows the Top Trio defeating the Rainbow Creature. This is a very obscure Batman villain from the Silver Age. It comes from an era when Batman fought more aliens and monsters than costumed criminals. But James Gunn doesn’t drop even seemingly silly Easter eggs like that without a deeper meaning. The “Rainbow” being something that needs defeating could symbolize a multicultural world. It could also be a reference to the LGBTQ Pride rainbow. After all, Nazis don’t much like queer folks either.

HBO Max

The pronunciation of is also very telling. Yes, it’s supposed to be a German name, because of the umlaut on the letter u. But most German names in America have become anglicized in their pronunciation. And as the original poster pointed out, we have already heard Blüdhaven pronounced BLOOD-haven in Creature Commandos. A world where the Germans won WWII would enforce German norms on the whole world. This little detail might be the most telling about how this white supremacist world came to be.

HBO Max

Another hint is this world’s version of Emelia Harcourt. Yes, she still works at A.R.G.U.S., but she doesn’t seem nearly as badass, and wears dresses and more feminine attire. From the look of things, she has some kind of desk job. That’s not a bad thing, but the Nazis enforced very strict gender roles. In a world like this, Emelia probably would likely not work in anything that was “a man’s job” like our version of the character. Of all of the clues, this one might be the one that’s “reaching” the most, but we stand by it.

DC Comics

DC lore actually has precedent for an Earth where the Nazis won World War II. This was “Earth X,” and it was home to heroic Freedom Fighters who fought against the Nazis well into the ’80s. A version of this world has popped up in the DC Multiverse several times. In the CW Arrowverse, there was even a crossover event that introduced us to this world, “Crisis on Earth-X.” We may not get that name on Peacemaker, but our hunch says it will be Earth-X in everything but name. Does this mean there are Nazi versions of DCU heroes here? We’ll have to wait and find out. But we think this seemingly perfect world is anything but.

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The DC Comics History of MAN OF TOMORROW’S Lex Luthor War Suit

When James Gunn announced the next Superman movie coming in 2027 as Man of Tomorrow, he released an image by artist Jim Lee of the DCU’s Superman and Lex Luthor together. But this Lex wasn’t the businessman head of LuthorCorp we met in Gunn’s Superman, played by Nicholas Hoult. He’s wearing his purple and green battle armor, often referred to as his “war suit.” This look comes straight from the pages of DC Comics, and evokes an era when Luthor finally became a truly formidable foe for Superman in a physical sense.

Man of Tomorrow. In theatres July 9, 2027

— James Gunn (@jamesgunn.bsky.social) 2025-09-03T16:46:31.775Z

Lex Luthor has been Superman’s greatest nemesis since Action Comics #23 in 1940, when he first appeared as simply “Luthor.” But he wasn’t really a “costumed criminal” for the first three decades of his existence. He was usually in regular clothes, or escaped convict prison garb. In 1974, the supervillain Lex Luthor finally started to emerge, as well as his classic purple/green color scheme. It was just a jumpsuit with a flared collar, but it had repulsor jets to fly around with, and wrist lasers. This was the version that appeared on many toys, the Super Friends cartoon, and on most Bronze Age era merchandise. But it wasn’t as cool as what came a decade later.

DC Comics

In 1983, DC and Kenner Toys, fresh from the success of Star Wars, were getting ready to produce a DC-based toyline called Super Powers. And some of Superman’s villains desperately needed updating to be action figures. DC hired artist Ed Hannigan to make Brainiac into a more terrifying robotic form. At the same time, the great George Perez designed Lex Luthor’s new costume. Instead of tights, it was a metal power suit, making Lex into a kind of evil Iron Man. The new suit debuted in 1984’s Action Comics #544, and appeared on toy shelves that same year. It was also the suit he wore prominently during DC’s epic Crisis on Infinite Earths crossover. But given its iconic status, it shockingly only lasted two years.

DC Comics

In the post-Crisis reboot of the DC Universe in 1986, Lex Luthor was reinvented from a mad scientist ex convict, into a billionaire CEO of LexCorp. He was now the financial powerhouse that virtually owned Metropolis. While still a criminal, even if the world at large didn’t know, he preferred others do his dirty work. This version was still a genius, but he largely just presented as just a rich man in wearing some snazzy threads. This version of Lex informed the ones we saw in Superman: The Animated Series, Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman, Smallville, the DCEU, and more. Billionaire CEO became the default Luthor, and it felt like the war suit would remain a thing of the past.

DC Comics

For the next twenty years, there would be nods here and there to the mid-80s war suit. One of those was Luthor’s private LexCorp army in Superman For All Seasons. But in 2004, after his stint as U.S. President failed, modern Lex finally took on a new version of the war suit. Redesigned by Ed McGuinness, it was bulkier than before, and a little more intimidating. In Paul Cornell’s Action Comics run a few years later, we got a slimmed-down version of the suit. It harkened back to that original Perez design. Although he doesn’t wear it all the time, DC has definitely decided the war suit is too cool to leave in the past. And now it looks to make a big comeback in Man of Tomorrow. And we can’t wait to see Nicholas Hoult rock the purple and green.

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Watching HAMILTON in Theaters Is WORTH IT (Be in the Room Where It Happens)

The time has come to rise up and do what has to be done—because if you’re a fan of A. Ham (Or A. Burr… probably A. Burr), you won’t want to miss the absolutely transcendent experience of watching Hamilton, performed by its original cast, on the big screen. Hamilton, the movie, arriving in theaters on September 5, is a very special cinematic stage performance, one that captures the excitement of Hamilton right at its absolute peak of fervor in 2016. The cinematic rendition, which Nerdist was lucky enough to experience alongside the original cast themselves, plucks you up out of 2025 and takes you right back to that moment in time. So whether you were lucky enough to experience it yourself the first go-around, or have always wished you could be in the room where it happens, you can now step through time and let the full glory of Hamilton wash over you.Nerdist

Of course, Hamilton has been available to stream on Disney+ for quite some time now. But there’s something about the magnitude of a big screen combined with massive speakers that really brings the Broadway performance to life. There are even all the natural pauses for applause and intermission that one would experience at a live show built into the cinematic form of Hamilton. And let me tell you, the crowd I was a part of went absolutely WILD at the end of each song—applauding the performance with their whole hearts. Because, recording or not, those performances deserved applause.

[image error]Nerdist

And yes, this is unlikely to be your normal theater-going experience, but that’s a good thing. Hamilton, the movie, will also feature an exclusive special prologue to the film featuring all-new interviews with the original cast and creators as they reflect on the impact the show has had on their lives. And in that prologue, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Leslie Odom, Jr., and the rest basically encourage you to sing along, applaud, and feel your feelings however you feel them as you watch Hamilton in a whole new way.

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Leslie Odom, Jr. Is Returning as Aaron Burr in HAMILTON on Broadway

The audience I was a part of took this to heart, and it was absolutely magical. The love everyone in the theater shared with the story, with the cast, with the music, and with one another was absolutely exceptional. It was one of those deeply communal experiences that reminds us that watching a movie does not HAVE To be a solo sport. People sang the songs and danced along because how could they not do so? It was a beautiful communion—this time with no performers to disrupt, this time with the community of the audience taking center stage. Hamilton is the kind of art that wants to invite you into its world; it wants you to feel moved to cheer, catcall, and become a part of the chorus. And Hamilton‘s presence in movie theaters will allow it to be realized in a whole new way.

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Lin-Manuel Miranda shared that he wants to make things that people can watch together in the dark. Of course, watching Hamilton live is an exceptional experience that no screen can top. But watching it on a screen allows a different kind of beauty to form. With Hamilton heading to theaters, people who might not be able to make it to Broadway easily can experience what it is to be moved by Hamilton in a way that still feels celebratory, that still captures the essence of the creation. Hamilton knows no incredible feat is ever accomplished totally alone. And Hamilton‘s release in movie theaters allows Hamilton fans to know that “tomorrow there’ll be more of us.”

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Hamilton is opening in theaters on September 5—and I advise you get yourself into the room where it happens. Stat!

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ALIEN: EARTH Production Designer Andy Nicholson Updates Old Futures

Alien: Earth has been an amazing ride so far, doing justice to the franchise and expanding its lore. But one of the secret weapons of the series is its production design. It’s reverential to the world created by Ridley Scott in 1979, while also working as a series for 2025 audiences. A key part to making this all work is production designer Andy Nicholson whose work thus far is Emmy-worthy. The most recent episode, “In Space, No One….,” showed a meticulous recreation of a spaceship with the ’70s aesthetic the franchise began with. We got the chance to chat with Nicholson about his work on the series, which brings the future as 1979 saw it in Alien into today.FX

Nerdist: You’ve worked on big franchises before, like Jurassic World and the MCU. But for this show, you’re recreating a well-established aesthetic that’s over 45 years old. But among the old, there’s a lot of new. What was this like for you as a designer and as an Alien fan? 

Andy Nicholson: Well, as a designer, you’re responsible for collaborating with the director on what I like to say is “everything behind the actors.” So you know, whatever that is, whether it’s choosing a location or, in this case, the sets. And so, this show was a perfect opportunity for me to do something that’s very fun, which was building something from reference. Just to give you an example, say you’re designing a World War II movie set on a flying fortress. You learn that plane, you design everything about it. So, I had that as a job, and then I also had to expand the world, bring the franchise to Earth. When I designed the show, we weren’t really sure how far in the future it was going to be. It was between 100 and 150 years in the future. We were never precise.

FX

So in talking to Noah Hawley, there were a few props in Aliens I took inspiration from, in the spaceship that Sigourney Weaver’s on, which were great because they were early ’80s furniture design lamps, and a few things like that. And there’s a great pool of futuristic-looking furniture. Things like car interiors from the late ’70s, early ’80s, before everything ultimately got designed by computer. And even things like the Sony Walkman, that sort of great flat Sony Walkman, which had the screen and the angle, those kinds of things started in that era.

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ALIEN: EARTH’s Noah Hawley and Samuel Blenkin Talk Lore, Humanity, Sci-Fi Influences, and More

It’s futuristic stuff, which was their vision of the future then, and it’s kind of worked for what our vision of the future should be. It felt like it would work with where we were in the franchise timeline, and also, it was something that I hadn’t seen done before. I know this term, retrofuturism, is now common. We never really said that when we were doing it. It was working from what those filmmakers thought the future would be like when they made [Alien]. So let’s take what they thought it should be, and let’s expand that. That was kind of our kickoff point for that. From those few props in that spaceship, to the whole inside of all of the furniture in Neverland.

FX

The 22nd-century design of this show mixes the old and new. How did you decide which things in this era remained retro, and which ones had to change it up?

Nicholson: Some things were script-led changes. Obviously, the MU-TH-UR room has to have the impact room in the floor layout. And some of them were logistic-led, like a bunch of rooms joined together that weren’t the same as the Nostromo. So there was the layout of the bridge that was the same, but where it went on the ship was different. Things like that. The cryo chamber is a lot bigger because it’s a ship with more crew. The story needed there to be a rotation of people who went through cryo and then managed the ship. Different than the Nostromo, where there’s just one small cryo chamber.

FX

There were more scenes needing to happen in there in Episode 5, so it’s scene-led changes. When you’re doing anything like this, you research. And there were things that you had to keep the same, like the original design of the Nostromo. The aesthetic there was “Let’s look at some late ’70s fast food restaurants and that plastic look of all the seating.” This is what they’ve done for all of their ships, so that’s what the interior of ours is. And [the Maginot] is a sister ship in the same fleet/similar time period, so it should have the same stuff. And then, to be honest, you just get geeky about it.

FX

We feel like there was something about that late ‘70s sci-fi look that just doesn’t date. I feel like Alien: Earth and Andor and both proof of that. What do you think they were tapping into back then that you’ve been able to emulate so well?

Nicholson: I don’t know, I think it was all purposefully futuristic. They were using unusual shapes. They were at the very end of the drawn design before computers. And that made a difference in the line form. A lot of the early concept artists were engineers who also did art of spacecraft, spaceships, and stuff like that, through the ’70s and early ’80s. And it was kind of following from that sort of lead. It was before all the spaceships you’ve seen were designed on computers. I mean, the Andor and Star Wars world is a different aesthetic. But they both come from spaceships made out of a whole bunch of model kit parts stuck back together. So you do that, to such an extent that the first thing they did was computer model bits of plane kits to use on the spaceship.

FX

We had an established aesthetic for the Maginot that was quite good. Mainly because it’s a combination of the Sulaco from Aliens and the Nostromo from Alien. The interior is mostly a Nostromo reference. Because in the script, there were rooms like the MU-TH-UR room, the cryo chamber, and the bridge. And if you go to a plane cockpit from a Boeing to an Airbus, they each have very similar things. And then you get to be a geeky fan, and find things that absolutely have to be the same. When you look back at the movies, there are some things you can hardly see because it’s very dark, and you’re trying to figure out. “What the hell is that thing they used there?” and then use it. Because it’s just fun for the fans. I mean, you know, at that stage, we all turn into geeks.

Alien: Earth releases new episodes on FX and FX on Hulu every Thursday.

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THE LONG WALK Turns a Great Richard Bachman Story Into a Good Stephen King One

Whether you know nothing about The Long Walk or have read the novel, there’s a very good chance you’ll like director Francis Lawrence’s big screen adaptation. It’s an entertaining, troubling story that gets many of the book’s best and most important elements right. It’s gritty(ish), surprisingly gory, and genuinely funny. It also stays true to the novel’s very simple, straightforward plot. Young men living in a dystopian America voluntarily sign up for a yearly government competition where they must continuously walk without stopping until only one of them remains alive. The issue for readers is that while Lawrence made a movie worth seeing he turned a great Richard Bachman story into a good Stephen King one.

Richard Bachman was the pseudonym Stephen King published a handful of novels (he’d most written years earlier) under in the late ’70s into the mid ’80s. (That was the case until someone figured out the connection and ruined King’s fun.) But Bachman was more than just a name to the author. He was more like an alter ego who was different from himself in meaningful ways.

In his 1996 essay “The Importance of Being Bachman,” King described the state of mind in which he wrote the books he assigned to Bachman. He said he they were full of “low rage, sexual frustration, crazy good humor, and simmering despair.” Bachman stories also tended to be far, far bleaker than most King stories where the good guys generally win.

Lionsgate

“Low rage, sexual frustration, crazy good humor, and simmering despair” is a perfect description for Bachman’s The Long Walk. It’s also—fortunately—a decent one for Lawrence’s movie. It takes place in a poor, desolate America still “recovering” from an internal war that tore it apart. There’s a lot to be angry about and little to be happy for. The country’s de facto leader, The Major (Mark Hamill) has deemed certain books and ideas illegal. It’s a perpetual fascist police state inside a never-ending Great Depression.

(By the end of the film, when I realized exactly what he was doing with the character, I loved Hamill’s performance. It seems like he’s doing caricature at first. But that’s because he plays the Major as a power hungry man who backed in to too much power and came to completely believe his own bullshit. He’s a monster full of real bravado that should be false. It’s a really smart, really good choice by Hamill, who is terrifying and hilarious.)

Lionsgate

The movie ultimately works because despite its surreal setting and sinister story it’s characters feel real. These desperate, stupid, and brave young men feel and talk with an authenticity that provides the real horror in the story. They know all but one of them are going to die, and yet none of them seems to fully understand that fact until they find a gun pointed at their heads. And every time one does it makes you cringe and hope someone will somehow stop this terrible competition from continuing. You don’t want any of them to die.

Just like in the novel, The Long Walk gets us to invest in its nightmare by getting us to invest in these ill-fated characters, especially its main character Ray Garraty. Here he’s played by a very likable, sweet Cooper Hoffman. He’s easy to root for and you will. The same goes for his co-star David Jonsson. He plays Pete McVries, the story’s only optimistic character who befriends and protect Ray during the walk. These two anchor the film. Their relationship is also the source of the movie’s biggest change.

Lionsgate

Lawrence and screenwriter JT Mollner seem to love the story of The Long Walk, but not its point-of-view. (For reasons I can’t really understand, they also cut or dramatically change some of the book’s most important characters.) Their version combines Bachman’s desolate, bleak yarn with the love and camaraderie of King works like Stand By Me and The Shawshank Redemption. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, obviously. Those are both classics for a reason. It’s just a different, less bold, less interesting version of The Long Walk than readers know.

That’s also because the movie gives the actual Long Walk contest a purpose that is missing from Bachman’s story. One of the best, most upsetting aspects of the book is that there’s no real justification for why this happens every year. The lack of a point has meaning in a story without hope. But in the movie, we’re told the competition inspires “hope” by literally getting people to work harder and increase the nation’s GDP. It serves a tangible purpose. That also makes the movie feel timely in a way that lessens its impact. (Though in total fairness, some think the novel is an analogy for the Vietnam War, so maybe Lawrence deserves credit for simply updating his to be timely in 2025.)

Lionsgate

Movie Ray also has a very clear reason for joining, unlike his print counterpart who really isn’t sure why he volunteered. The subtext for Ray’s choice is one of the best parts of the book, but the film only nods at his internal struggles with his sexual identity. That change makes sense for the story the movie has decided to tell, but I couldn’t help but be disappointed by it.

There is real hope and beauty in this version of The Long Walk. There’s only darkness and pain in Bachman’s. That change in tone and point-of-view also necessitates a change (for the worst) in the ending, which is extremely funny. King is often accused of not knowing how to end his stories. Richard Bachman did. But because Lawrence and Mollner opted to tell a Stephen King-ified version of a Bachman story, they ran into a Stephen King problem.

Lionsgate

There are worst things you can say about a movie than “this is a good Stephen King adaptation.” And that’s exactly what The Long Walk is. It made me laugh out loud just as often as it made me recoil in disgust and horror. Judy Greer who plays Ray’s mom also brought me to tears despite her very limited screen time. As did many of the walkers who only realized too late the horrible choice they’d made. I cared about these people, even the worst among them, because they were all victims. And they all felt all too real.

But while I really liked this film and think you should see it, as someone who absolutely loved the book, I can’t help but feel a little disappointed that a good Stephen King adaptation came at the expense of a great Richard Bachman story.

The Long Walk ⭐ (4 of 5)

The Long Walk hits theaters on September 12.

Mikey Walsh is a staff writer at Nerdist. He wants you to read The Long Walk and talk to him about it. You can follow him on Bluesky at @burgermike. And also anywhere someone is ranking the Targaryen kings.

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