Season 2 of Castle Rock adds Lizzy Caplan in a major role as a young Annie Wilkes, better known as the super-fan who kidnaps and maims her favorite author in Stephen King’s 1987 psychological horror novel Misery. That will be a large part of the story in Hulu’s King-centric anthology series, as the new season will reportedly delve into the misery (pun fully intended) of its location, and the role in plays in ruining the lives of those who have the misfortune of calling it home.
The first season of the anthology established the supernatural nature of its primary setting, focusing on a bizarre story that revolved around the Shawshank prison, a fractured family, and a stranger who some initially believed was the devil himself. The truth turned out to be something far stranger, one that took the first season’s impressive cast of André Holland, Melanie Linskey, Bill Skarsgård, Sissy Spacek, Jane Levy, and Scott Glenn to some unexpected places. And while the season ultimately received mixed reviews, it nonetheless kicked off a fascinating universe whose connective tissue was the work of horror master Stephen King.
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As reported by TVLine, season 2 of Castle Rock welcomes Lizzy Caplan to the role of one of King’s most memorable characters, Annie Wilkes. While it’s unclear if the entire season will work as an extension of Misery or not, it seems that Annie will have a role to play in a larger story that sounds as though it’ll take a cue from FX’s own anthology, Fargo. That much is made clear in a brief description of the season, which reads: “A feud between warring clans comes to a boil when Annie Wilkes, King’s nurse from hell, gets waylaid in Castle Rock.”
Season 2 will also welcome Eighth Grade standout Elsie Fisher, as Annie’s daughter Joy, as well as Tim Robbins and Garrett Hedlund (Triple Frontier). For Robbins it will be a return to the work of King, as he famously starred in The Shawshank Redemption, though this time he’ll be playing a different King character — that of crime boss Reginald ‘Pop’ Merrill, from the novella The Sun Dog. Hedlund, meanwhile, will be playing Joe ‘Ace’ Merrill, Pop’s nephew and ostensible heir.
The question of how Annie Wilkes will fit into a story of crime family’s going to the mattresses will be an interesting one to see play out. It will be almost as interesting as seeing what sort of spin Caplan puts on the character that earned Bates an Academy Award. It’s been nearly 30 years since that movie came out, so perhaps it’s time to give Annie Wilkes another shot at stardom.
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Castle Rock season 2 is expected sometime in 2019 on Hulu.
Source: TVLine
