If you’re a fan of post-apocalyptic horror fiction, then you know there are two essential novels that everyone must read: Stephen King‘s The Stand, and Robert McCammon’s Swan Song. The former has been adapted for TV a couple of times now, while the fan base of the latter has been clamoring for one for decades. Well, dreams do come true because Swan Song is finally getting the television adaptation we’ve all been waiting for, and it just found its showrunner.
Per Variety, Russell Rothberg will write, executive produce, and serve as showrunner for Swan Song, which is now being taken out to market to hopefully find a distributor. Rothberg’s past credits include the highly successful A&E series Bates Motel, Apple TV’s Foundation, and most recently the Peacock limited series Long Bright River. The best part of all? Walking Dead alumni Greg Nicotero is also along for the ride, and in addition to being an executive producer through Monster Agency Productions, will also direct the pilot episode. “The time is perfect to delve into this world,” he said in a statement when the series was announced last month, adding:
“Being a longtime fan of Robert’s novels, his story of survival in a world forever changed by political mistrust and international intrigue intertwined with a supernatural force has always been one of my favorites.”
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First published in 1987, McCammon’s Swan Song won the Bram Stoker Award for Best Novel that same year in a tie with King’s Misery, and has often been mentioned in the same breath as The Stand. Though the pair are vastly different stories, they’re considered two of the greatest works of post-apocalyptic fiction ever written. While The Stand deals with the aftermath of a deadly pandemic, Swan Song opts to examine life after a nuclear war, and the subsequent human evolution that takes place afterward. Based on the synopsis for the series, it appears as if it’s sticking pretty close to the book, unlike the recent adaptation of McCammon’s novel Stinger that was turned into the series Teacup, which has now been canceled at Peacock.
“Following the U.S. government’s nuclear showdown with an unprecedented malevolent enemy, the world, as it was, is gone forever. In its place is a society whose remaining citizens are caught in a life and death struggle to stay alive in a wasteland born of rage and fear, populated by monstrous creatures and marauding armies. One small girl offers a glimmer of hope against a supernatural being hell-bent on the planet’s destruction.”
‘Swan Song’ Is a Beautifully Written Tale Filled With Colorful Characters
In addition to Nicotero, Steve Barnett, Alan Powell and Vicky Patel will also serve as executive producers through Monarch Media to help bring all of Swan Song‘s colorful characters to life. The novel features an ensemble cast including the eponymous Sue Wanda Prescott, who is at the heart of the story, as well as the shape-shifting Man with the Scarlet Eye, who is the driving force of evil behind everything. Also highlighted are Colonel Macklin and Roland Croninger, Sister Creep, and Josh Hutchins, a former pro-wrestler who acts as a father-figure and protector to Swan.
At 960 pages, Swan Song is one heck of a hefty tome with a lot going on in it, not just in terms of action, but in its underlying themes of survival, hope, and the resiliency of humanity. Rothberg and Nicotero have a tough job ahead of them if they want to do right by the fans, but based on their past work, we’re confident they’ll be able to do justice to the source material, while at the same time putting their own spin on it to successfully adapt it for a modern audience.