Published Jul 6, 2026, 12:06 PM EDT
Grant Hermanns is a TV News Editor, Interview Host and Reviewer for ScreenRant, having joined the team in early 2021. He got his start in the industry with Moviepilot, followed by working at ComingSoon.net. When not indulging in his love of film/TV, Grant is making his way through his gaming backlog and exploring the world of Dungeons & Dragons with friends.
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Apple TV’s ***Cape Fear ***has brought a very different take to its classic source material, and Stephen King has a short-but-sweet take on the show.
The series is based on John D. MacDonald’s novel The Executioners, which was previously adapted into both the Gregory Peck and Robert De Niro-starring *Cape Fear *films. The crime thriller centers on affluent couple Anna and Tom Bowden, whose lives are thrown into turmoil when Max Cady, a sociopathic ex-convict who she was meant to represent as his defense attorney while he was the prosecutor 17 years prior, resurfaces in their lives and begins tormenting their family.
With just over half of its first season aired, Stephen King took to his Bluesky account to share his thoughts on the *Cape Fear *series. In a brief-yet-pointed post on the social media platform, the acclaimed author revealed his hot take on the crime thriller, in which he shared that “I’m rooting for Max Cady,” the show’s central antagonist played by Oscar winner Javier Bardem.
Much like Robert Mitchum and Robert De Niro before him, Bardem has certainly taken the opportunity of his tenure as Cady to be a chilling figure to watch in Apple TV’s Cape Fear. From his manic charms at public events to being vulnerable in sharing elements of his tragic backstory, the Oscar winner has proven one of the most consistent points of acclaim in the show’s reviews.
King’s decision to root for Cady is certainly an interesting choice, but not one entirely surprising considering the changes the *Cape Fear *series makes to its source material. Much like both the Mitchum and De Niro-starring films, the Apple TV series did establish that Anna deliberately helped get Cady convicted of his crimes, which in the show’s case was stabbing and killing both his pregnant wife and unborn child.
EXCLUSIVE: The creator of the thriller Cape Fear opens up about why a cast member from the 1991 film adaptation was cast for the Apple TV series.
However, in aiming to update the material for a modern audience, the Bowden family have proven to be far more complicated in Apple TV’s *Cape Fear *compared to the film. Zack, who becomes the first target for Cady, is shown having an estranged relationship with Patrick Wilson’s Tom, having troubles with anxiety and being groomed online. His sister Natalie, meanwhile, is shown frequently doubting Tom and Anna about her real parentage and becoming increasingly swayed by unsavory characters to cope with her destabilizing life.
With them not being the clean-cut family that previous adaptations have made them, King’s defense of Cady in Apple TV’s ***Cape Fear ***likely stems from the Bowdens not being quite as rootable, and even somewhat more despicable, than before. Though the short post leaves plenty of mystery as to how he actually feels about the show as a whole, and whether he still wants Cady to lose, King’s hot take is sure to spark plenty of conversations about who the real villain of the crime thriller is.
**New episodes of Cape Fear air Fridays on Apple TV.
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In this new Cape Fear adaptation, attorneys Anna and Tom Bowden have their life upended when a notorious killer they helped imprison is released and seeks revenge.