New True Crime Series on America’s Most Terrifying Killer Unleashes Final Trailer — Netflix’s Monster Looks Tame by Comparison
Devil in Disguise is back for season 2, greenlit as the team follows the trail of another prolific killer.
Peacock just dropped a new true-crime series about one of the worst people to ever walk the earth, and the final trailer is... a lot. 'Devil in Disguise: John Wayne Gacy' is streaming now, and the marketing is leaning straight into the creep factor with Michael Chernus looking and sounding disturbingly close to the real guy.
The trailer leans hard into the double life
The new (and apparently final) trailer opens with Gacy making his confession, with Chernus channeling him so well it’s uncomfortable. From there, it pivots to the investigation: cops piecing together the crimes and what they find beneath his house. Compared to the first trailer, this cut goes deeper on how Gacy managed to be a fixture in the community while hiding something horrific.
"There’s really four Gacys," Chernus says. "John the contractor, John the politician, John the clown. And then there’s the other guy."
What the show is actually doing
Set in Chicago in 1978, the series takes a closer look at the very real case: John Wayne Gacy violated, tortured, and murdered at least 33 young men and boys. Peacock says the show digs into how he evaded justice for so long — pointing at systemic failures and the fact that he came off as a 'nice guy' who even volunteered to entertain sick kids as a clown. If you know the case, you know how dark this gets; if you don’t, the show seems intent on spelling out exactly how it was allowed to happen.
Cast, creatives, and the plan going forward
- Michael Chernus (Severance) plays John Wayne Gacy
- Also stars Gabriel Luna (The Last of Us), James Badge Dale, Michael Angarano, Chris Sullivan, and Marin Ireland
- Eight-episode limited series
- Created by Patrick Macmanus, who wrote the series and serves as showrunner
- This Gacy chapter is one-and-done; the anthology is already greenlit for a second season about Richard Ramirez, aka the Night Stalker (per Variety). Ramirez terrorized Southern California in the mid-80s and is believed to have killed at least 15 people; because his victims spanned different ages and genders, the true total isn’t known.
Where to watch
'Devil in Disguise: John Wayne Gacy' is streaming now on Peacock in the US. No UK date yet — I’ll update when Peacock stops being coy.
If this is your brand of nightmare fuel, file it next to your favorite horror picks and keep an eye on what’s still to come this year — it’s a busy slate.