The first trailer for The Outsider is here. This is the latest Stephen King adaptation to make its way to the small screen, courtesy of HBO. It stars Ben Mendelsohn in the lead role and represents a rather quick turnaround, given that the novel was published in May 2018. Yet, King is about as hot as it gets right now in Hollywood, save for maybe anything with the Marvel brand on it. As such, HBO was quick to jump on this one and, based on the trailer, it's easy to see why.

Right off the bat, the trailer puts us in a grim place, as a man is arrested for murder during his a children's little league baseball game. We then start digging into evidence and it's pretty grim. But it also feels right at home in the Stephen King universe, no doubt. Things get twisted and complicated, with the lines of truth becoming blurry. It looks very much cut from the same cloth as True Detective, stylistically, only with a much more aggressive lean into horror. HBO is at the very top of the food chain when it comes to prestige drama and this trailer certainly makes it appear as though they've brought that prestige to this particular King adaptation.

The full cast includes Ben Mendelsohn (Ready Player One, Rogue One) as Ralph Anderson, the lead cop on the case, and Cynthia Erivo (Widows) as private investigator Holly Gibney. Also on board are Bill Camp (The Night Of) as Howie Gold, Mare Winningham (Grey's Anatomy) as Jeannie Anderson, Paddy Considine (The World's End) as Claude Bolton, Julianne Nicholson (I, Tonya) as Glory Maitland, Yul Vazquez (Treme) as Yunis Sablo, Jeremy Bobb (Jessica Jones) as Alec Pelley, Marc Menchaca (Generation Kill) as Jack Hoskins, Hettienne Park (Hannibal) as Tomika Collins, Michael Esper (Ben Is Back) as Bill Samuels, Derek Cecil (House of Cards) as Andy Katcavage and Max Beesley (Strike Back) as Seale Bolton. Jason Bateman (Ozark) is also on board not just as a star, but as a director and executive producer.

The Outsider centers on police detective Ralph Anderson as he is tasked to investigate the mutilated body of 11-year-old Frankie Peterson. The young boy was found dead in the Georgia woods. The strange circumstances surrounding this grizzly and ugly crime lead Ralph, who is also grieving from the recent death of his own son, to bring on an unorthodox private investigator Holly Gibney (Cynthia Erivo) to help him. Holly's uncanny abilities, he hopes, will help to explain what seems to be, on the surface, unexplainable.

The series is set to run for 10 episodes and won't be getting a follow-up, as it's billed as a limited series. It joins other recent small screen Stephen King adaptations such as Mr. Mercedes and Castle Rock, as well as the upcoming Dark Tower show and The Stand over on CBS All Access. The Outsider is set to premiere on January 12 on HBO. Be sure to check out the trailer for yourself.