SFX235 Preview: Brian K Vaughan On Under The Dome

Brian K Vaughan, the writer who gave us the comic Y: The Last Man (for which we will be forever grateful) has found himself a new job as main writer and executive producer on a US TV adaptation of Stephen King’s Under The Dome . In the new issue of SFX (on sale next Wednesday) he talks about how he set about adapting the mammoth novel, and here we give you a sneak peek, in which he reveals how King let him change one of the most important aspects of the novel.

Vaughan tells us the show’s first season is divided into three sections: “The first section is fate. The second section is fear. And the third section is fascism. I won’t say who is the fascist or what exactly that means, but I think you get the sense that things are going to go wrong very quickly under the dome, and we’re going to need an iron fist keeping order.”

Much like Vaughan himself is keeping order, and offering fans an ending different from the book’s.

“There’s sort of a perhaps slightly different explanation for the dome. I nervously pitched Stephen King what a different version of the ending might be. He was very supportive of it, and very complimentary. He said, ‘I wish I’d thought of that.’”

“Which,” laughs Vaughan, “I suspect is just Stephen being kind, but he’s been great.”

SFX #235 is on sale in shops

and online from Wednesday 1 May

Under The Dome : New Featurette Features First Actual Footage
Under The Dome : New Teaser Trailer
True Blood ’s Former Witch Doctor Will Be Trapped Under The Dome

Dave Golder
Freelance Writer

Dave is a TV and film journalist who specializes in the science fiction and fantasy genres. He's written books about film posters and post-apocalypses, alongside writing for SFX Magazine for many years.