It’s no hidden mystery that the true crime genre exploded in the streaming era, with a vast abundance of docuseries, specials and dramatizations produced in the past decade. Peacock has lots of shows for true crime fans covering the Zodiac Killer and other high-profile unsolved murders, Casey Anthony, and more. The streaming service is currently adapting its own project for the upcoming limited drama series Devil in Disguise: John Wayne Gacy , and has cast Dead Ringers and Severence ’s Michael Chernus in the titular role.
Chernus, who is no stranger to taking on supporting roles in plenty of dark and deadly projects, will soon enjoy what is possibly his most high-profile role to date — sorry, Spider-Man: Homecoming ’s Tinkerer. But with his statement that followed the casting news, the actor made a point to honor the notorious killer’s victims in a way that shed light on what the show will be about, and also in a way that makes it sound like this show will try to avoid the negative backlashes that followed Netflix’s hugely popular series Dahmer and Baby Reindeer . In his words: I’m both excited and humbled by this opportunity.
The direction that the writers are taking with this project is important, focusing on the victims and their families as well as those who finally brought John Wayne Gacy to justice. While Gacy was the perpetrator of these horrific crimes, I’m relieved that he won’t be the main focus of the series. It’s heartbreaking for me to think o.
