Locke & Key's long and bumpy road from page to screen included it being passed around from studio to studio until it landed at Netflix. Somewhere along the way, the story's original horror tone morphed into one of fantasy.
The original comic, written by Joe Hill and illustrated by Gabriel Rodriguez, follows the Locke siblings moving back to their father's ancestral home after his murder. The kids uncover a number of magical keys with mysterious powers that ultimately lead to their involvement in a battle of good vs evil.
As it's a comic involving keys with magical powers, Locke & Key has many fantasy elements. However, the original source material delves deeply into the horror genre. The story involves topics like murder, trauma and demons — some pretty heavy stuff. Most fans consider Locke & Key far more of a horror story than a fantasy one. But once Netflix got its hands on the rights to the comics, the streaming platform decided to go the opposite route.
How Locke & Key's Tone Changed From Horror To Fantasy
Showrunner Carlton Cuse had been working on Hulu's upcoming adaptation of Locke & Key when the streaming platform scrapped the show. While he remained a showrunner when the show found a new home at Netflix, he decided to take a completely different direction. His version at Hulu leaned heavily into the horror element of the source material. For Netflix, he decided to go toward fantasy.
Netflix has found a large success rate with a certain type of show — a little fantasy, light scares, family tension, and a whole lot of teenage drama. Stranger Things and The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina are two shows that have found major success with this recipe. More recently, The Umbrella Academy dabbled in this formula — and it was quickly renewed for a second season.
By sticking to the same formulaic approach, Netflix fails Locke & Key. If it was a show that focused more on the horrors these kids faced on a regular basis, as opposed to the mundane drama of family dynamics and adolescence, Netflix would have been bringing a new kind of offering to its viewers. But instead, it presents fans with a TV show that they've seen time and time again. The Netflix approach mechanically and reliably cranks out solid shows. But despite the chance that it is likely to get a second season, the decision to change Locke & Key from a primarily horror comic to a fantasy show robbed it of its ability to be great.