The past fights back in Stephen King’s 11/22/63, a time-travel thriller that turns changing history into a dangerous game, now available on Netflix.
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SUMMARY
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Stephen King released 11.22.63 on November 08, 2011. The sci-fi/alt-history novel follows the story of protagonist Jake Epping, who uses the alias of George Amberson to travel back in time and try to stop the infamous assassination of President John F. Kennedy.
In a conversation with Wired, King opened up about how time travel would work and the unsaid rule that exists. According to King’s expertise, if one wanted to go back in time and change something that would alter the past, present, and future, the universe would fight back in an attempt to preserve itself.
On the other hand, things get much easier if your goals are simple and do not have the potential to change the future.
There’s a kind of a rule that you’d express as a ratio: The more potential a given event has to change the future, the more difficult that event would be to change. If you wanted to go back and speak to somebody on a street corner so that they were five minutes late to an appointment—that might not be too hard. But if you wanted to stop the assassination of a president, that would be really difficult. The past would try to protect itself.
King admitted that if he ever got the chance to go back in time, he wouldn’t do so, afraid of knocking down “a house of cards” that would change everything. Another rule is,
The further back you go, the more precautions you have to take. It would go right to the language—you’d have to be careful about the way you speak; the accents would be different. If you were to return to, say, 1858, you’d really have to prepare ahead of time.
11/22/63 may not be among King’s most popular books, but that is precisely why you should give it a chance. Not a reader? Well, we have a solution for that, too.
Why You Need to Watch 11.22.63 on Netflix
11/22/63 was eventually turned into a miniseries, 11.22.63. Released in 2016, the 8-episode-long sci-fi thriller is a must-watch. Developed by Bridget Carpenter, it has a score of 83% on Rotten Tomatoes.
| Title | 11.22.63 |
| Developed by | Bridget Carpenter |
| Starring | James Franco Sarah Gadon Cherry Jones Lucy Fry George MacKay Daniel Webber… |
| No. of episodes | 8 |
| Producers | Joseph Boccia James Franco |
| Release date | February 15 – April 4, 2016 |
| Where to watch | Netflix |
James Franco landed the lead role of Jake Epping in the series and gave one of his best performances to date. 11.22.63 also stars Chris Cooper, Sarah Gadon, Daniel Webber, and more.
Having first premiered on Hulu, 11.22.63 is now available to stream on Netflix, and here’s why you need to watch it asap. First of all, the series doesn’t bore viewers with the mechanics of time traveling.
With only eight episodes to tell the story, it goes straight into the juicy material after educating the audience about a few basic rules. The story does not feel rushed, and even though the focus seems to be on Kennedy’s assassination, the series takes its time to properly develop the world and the characters in it.
The tense scenes keep you intrigued throughout, so much so that you may not want to catch a break between episodes. Critics have praised 11.22.63‘s storytelling and performances, calling it an entertaining watch.
Now, is it the best that we have on time travel? Maybe not. But is it still worth a watch? Definitely.
Will Stephen King Write About Time Travel Again?
11.22.63 is King’s only novel that primarily focuses on time travel. While The Dark Tower series features similar elements, the former is the only dedicated time travel thriller in the author’s bibliography.
Will King ever write about time travel again? The answer seems to be negative. Continuing the conversation with Wired, King was asked, “Do you think you’ll work with time travel again?”
To that, he candidly replied,
No, this is it. Absolutely not. No, that’s done. It’s like Apollo Creed says, ‘Ain’t gonna be no rematch.’
Well, King may have channeled his internal Creed when it comes to writing about time travel, but you still have the chance to see his vision come to life with Franco’s series.
Let us know what you think about it in the comments section below!
Stream 11.22.63 on Netflix.
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