It’s the end of the world as we know it. Or, at least as Stephen King knew it when he wrote his 1978 pandemic novel The StandOver a year ago, CBS All Access announced that it would be adapting The Stand into an event miniseries. When the series started filming, ironically enough, the world began grappling with its own global pandemic. Talk about timing. In advance of the show’s release later this year, CBS All Access shared a few first-look images with Vanity FairAnd besides the fact that the story takes place in the late 1970s, some of the images don’t look that far off from our world’s current state. Check out all seven below:

The photos depict Whoopi Goldberg as the 108 year-old Mother Abigail and Alexander Skarsgård as the villainous Randall Flag, among others. The series is set to star James Marsden, Odessa Young, and Heather Graham. Benjamin Cavell and Taylor Elmore serve as The Stand’s showrunners, and Josh Boone (The Fault In Our Stars) is credited with directing the first episode.

The major difference between The Stand and our real-life Covid-19 situation is that the fictional virus isn’t organically born — it’s a weaponized human-made device. This of course fuels the drama in the series, as a variety of people from different walks of life struggle to face their own humanity. How can you govern yourself and others as the world goes completely haywire? As Stephen King puts it: “I wanted to write about bravery. At some point, people do have to make a stand.”

The nine-part series doesn’t have an official release date yet. Production had to wrap four days early due to coronavirus concerns, but CBS All Access is continuing with its debut as planned. In a way, when The Stand finally does arrive, we’ll have already lived it.

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