The Spiderwick Chronicles, the latest adaptation of Tony DiTerlizzi and Holly Black's beloved fantasy novels, is almost here, and IGN can exclusively debut the new trailer and poster as part of Fan Fest 2024.
You can watch the trailer below, which shows off first looks at the adaptation's Grace family, played here by Noah Cottrell, Lyon Daniels, Mychala Faith Lee, and Joy Bryant as they move into the fantastical Spiderwick Estate, where they'll encounter all manner of magical adventures. They'll also, however, face plenty of danger, as teased by Christian Slater's ogre Mulgarath.
"The world would be a better place without humans," Slater says in the trailer. "That's why I'm going to consume them."
Slater is also the focus of the exclusive poster, which you can see below. It beckons fans to "look closer," teasing Mulgarath's more montrous form.
After being scrapped by Disney - and then subsequently saved by Roku - The Spiderwick Chronicles will premiere on Roku Channel on April 19.
We also got the chance to speak to creator/showrunner Aron Eli Coleite via email, who teased what fans can expect. He reveals that, for Season 1, "we blended Book One, The Field Guide, and Book Five, The Wrath of Mulgarath," complete with "all the iconic moments from those books."
"The dumbwaiter, Spiderwick’s attic, seeing stones and even Simon’s poor mice - Lemondrop and Jeffrey," Coleite teases.
"But," he continues, "the fans who grew up reading the books are now adults with children of their own, so we deepened existing stories, added some new elements and crafted new twists to keep the audience on their toes."
Coleite says there's more "dark fantasy and "dangerous romances," in addition to creatures they've pulled from Arthur Spiderwick's Field Guide to the Fantastical World Around You, a compendium by Black and DiTerlizzi published in 2005. There, too, are entirely new characters and creatures that Black and DiTerlizzi helped create to give "devoted fans of the books something new to sink their teeth into."
Coleite also points to those aforementioned creatures as one of the biggest challenges behind bringing the show to life. He notes that Black and DiTerlizzi have always called The Spiderwick Chronicles an "American fairytale," and the production "delved deep into that idea." The idea, he says, is "to imagine how creatures living in America would adapt and hide from humans," both grounding them in the real world while honoring the lore.
"The end results are creatures that everyone around the world can recognize instantly, but have never seen quite like this," he says. "They will have our audiences getting their knees dirty as they hunt through grass and bushes to see if they can spot a sprite for themselves."
Another challenge arose in the casting, particularly with twins Simon and Jared. As he points out, the 2008 Spiderwick Chronicles movie had one actor (Freddie Highmore) playing both characters, which they weren't able to do, and "although we tried our hardest, we weren’t able to cast identical twins either."
"We had to change the twins from identical to fraternal," he explains. "Although different from the books, the rich performances from Noah Cotrell (Simon) and Lyon Daniels (Jared) nailed the heart soul of the characters — which never wavered from the original."
When asked what he's most excited for fans to see, Coleite points to Ann Foley's costumes, Elena Albenese's production design, and the VFX spearheaded by Curt Miller, as well as Slater's performance as Mulgarath, Jack Dylan Grazer’s as the boggart Thimbletack, and those from the Grace family.
"Mostly, I’m excited that fans will get to see the show at all," he says. "I’m so grateful to everyone at Roku for believing in the magic of this series."
For more from IGN Fan Fest 2024, check out our digital cover for Avatar: The Last Airbender and an exclusive clip from The Bad Batch Season 3.
Alex Stedman is a Senior News Editor with IGN, overseeing entertainment reporting. When she's not writing or editing, you can find her reading fantasy novels or playing Dungeons & Dragons.
