There were a lot of surprises at this year’s Comic-Con in San Diego, including some news from James Wan, who is unleashing a new series.
Horror legend James Wan takes on a new challenge
James Wan’s upcoming Peacock series Teacup has been the subject of many horror fans’ conversations this year. The series had been kept under wraps until Wan, the cast and crew brought it to San Diego Comic-Con over the weekend for a sneak preview. But before we jump into the Comic-Con panel, it’s important to note that Wan is a bona-fide horror legend. Wan’s the creator of The Conjuring franchise and co-creator of the Saw and Insidious franchises. The Conjuring is the highest-grossing horror franchise of all time, grossing a whopping $2.28 billion worldwide. On top of that, Saw is the fifth highest-grossing horror franchise ($1.1 billion), and Insidious is the 14th highest-grossing franchise at ($732 million). All of which is to say that horror is Wan’s cup of tea, and the crowd at Comic-Con went absolutely wild at the panel for his new horror series, Teacup.
The Teacup teaser at Comic-Con didn’t reveal much of the show’s storyline, but it did help spread an unsettling feeling across the Comic-Con crowd.
However, the panel provided Comic Con attendees with a clearer picture of what to expect from Teacup. The series follows a group of people in rural Georgia who have to band together to defend their community against a mysterious threat.
Adapting ‘Stinger’ into a television series
The series is an adaptation of the novel Stinger by author Robert McCammon. However, there are some clear differences between the Peacock series and the novel it’s based on — most notably, the setting and the name of the show. The novel is based in the fictional town Inferno, Texas, while the show is based in rural Georgia. Showrunner and executive producer Ian McCulloch released a statement saying, “Of course, during production the series changed and evolved. Just as it should. Even the title’s different. Stinger is now Teacup. The reasons for this are too spoilery to share but watch the first few episodes and all will be revealed.”
“Point being, the series is now very much its own thing: a puzzle-box mystery, an edge-of-your-seat thriller, a can’t-but-must look horror story, a family drama, a science fiction epic—of the keyhole variety, of course,” adds McCulloch. But as singular, strange, and surprising as I hope Teacup is, all you need to do is peel away the layers, characters, situations, and mythology and look behind the thrills, chills, hairpin turns and make-you gasp reveals. Do all that and you’ll see, at its heart, Teacup is still very much standing on the shoulders of Stinger. Just as it should.”
When McCulloch refers to Teacup as being of the “keyhole variety”, he means that it’s a large story told through a small lens. He provided Signs, The Thing and A Quiet Place as examples of keyhole stories. McCulloch loves keyhole stories, and he describes himself as a “less-is-more” writer who typically doesn’t gravitate toward writing big spectacle stories. Stinger is a spectacle, and McCulloch compared the spectacle of it to the blockbuster Independence Day.
However, McCulloch realized that there was a different approach he could take toward adapting the novel. McCulloch says, “What if I adapted Stinger in a way that honors the book and stays true to the kinds of stories I like to tell? Keep the conceit. Keep Stinger’s most effective elements. Take away the large ensemble. Take away the giant set pieces. Even take away the book’s crowded town setting. The adaptation would be like an acoustic guitar version of, say, a Radiohead song. It won’t have the production value, electronic instruments, loops, or synthesized bells and whistles but it will still have the melody, the structure, the lyrics, the real magic at the core, all the stuff that makes a great song a great song.”
What to expect from ‘Teacup’
Wan provided a written statement that was released at the same time as the panel. Wan said, “The story had all the ingredients for a captivating series and Ian McCulloch had a vision to bring it to life in a fresh way that was both startling and darkly atmospheric, but filled with a rich sense of humanity — often lacking in edgy narratives. Add in our incredibly talented cast led by Yvonne Strahovski, Scott Speedman and Chaske Spencer and fans are in for a true edge-of-your-seat experience.”
The Comic-Con crowd got a taste of Teacup, and Wan helped build anticipation for the crowd with his description of the series. Wan stated, “Teacup defies easy labels. It’s a genre-bending blend of horror, mystery, and drama, with layers that unfold like a captivating puzzle. It goes beyond chills and thrills and holds up a mirror to humanity, exploring the darkness that resides within us all. We hope you enjoy this wild ride as much as we’ve loved creating it.”
The first two episodes of Teacup premiere on Peacock on Thursday, October 10, followed by two episodes weekly through Halloween.
