With a release date finally announced last week for CBS All Access' take on the novel, we now have our first glimpse at what to expect from this haunting tale when it eventually hits our screens. The Stand is a disturbingly prescient tale, the narrative of which details Stephen King's apocalyptic vision of a world decimated by plague and embroiled in an elemental struggle between good and evil.

The trailer, while very short, does give us a good idea of the eerily foreboding atmosphere that the show has in store, as well as giving us a peek at several of the series' large ensemble cast including James Marsden as protagonist Stu Redman, and Alexander Skarsgård as the villainous Randall Flagg. The trailer also gives us our first look at a few characters we have yet to see, including Greg Kinnear as sociology professor Glen Bateman, Henry Zaga as Nick Andros, and Katherine McNamara as Julie Lawry.

Interestingly, The Stand creator and director Josh Boone recently revealed that Stephen King's involvement in the upcoming series has been quite substantial, and that the horror author already has written an episode of The Stand which is set after the book's ending.. The director further revealed, "...the last episode Stephen King wrote, so we had sort of an hour of original material by Stephen King that was a story set after The Stand. There was a story that he'd always wanted to tell."

While there will changes from King's novel, the upcoming series is also set after a strain of influenza has wiped out over 99% of the world's population. The Stand chronicles the lives of those lucky (or, in this case, unlucky) enough to have survived. The fate of mankind rests on the frail shoulders of the 108-year-old Mother Abagail and a handful of survivors. Their worst nightmares are embodied by a man with a lethal smile and unspeakable powers: Randall Flagg, the nefarious 'Dark Man'.

One of the changes that we are already aware of is the upcoming miniseries intention to reshuffle the chronology of the source material, meaning that it will not play out linearly. Instead, the show will begin with the plague having already hit, using flashbacks to show the character's old lives before the world ended.

The novel remains one of Stephen King's greatest achievements, and this new take, with all the talent involved, has a good chance of being a very worthy adaptation. Westworld and Sonic the Hedgehog's James Marsden stars as the story's principal protagonist Stu Redman with Aquaman star Amber Heard as Nadine Cross. Alongside them stars The Leftovers' Jovan Adepo as Larry Underwood, Boogie Nights star Heather Graham as Rita Blakemoor, It's Owen Teague as Harold Lauder, and Assassination Nation's Odessa Young as Frannie Goldsmith. Whoopi Goldberg will be looking suitably mystical as Mother Abagail with Alexander Skarsgård rounding out the cast as Randall Flagg.

The Stand is based on Stephen King's 1978 novel of the same name and will be comprised of a 10-episode miniseries courtesy of CBS All Access. The series will be directed, written, and produced by The Fault in our Stars and The New Mutants director Josh Boone. The Stand will debut on CBS All Access towards the end of this year on December 17. This comes to us from CBS All Access' official Twitter account.