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Netflix's Locke & Key features a meta cameo from its creators ... based on the same cameo in the comic
Netflix's take on Joe Hill and Gabriel Rodriguez's Locke & Key comic was full of easter eggs and knowing winks to fans of the source material, but some of its references went deeper than others. There was the early cameo by genre makeup legend (and Savini Squad namesake) Tom Savini, for example. But in the first season's finale, the show pulled off a cameo that wasn't just a shout-out to its creators: It was a direct remake of a cameo from the comic itself — and something that its creators are now speaking out about.
**This story contains minor plot details from the first season finale of Locke & Key**
Rodriguez drew himself and Hill into the comic as paramedics in the first chapter of Locke & Key: Alpha & Omega, which doesn't necessarily make their cameo match up timeline-wise with the rest of the story, but is still awesome:
So of course eagle-eyed fans not only spotted the real Hill and Rodriguez in the show's finale, but were extra tickled to see them reprising their in-universe roles as paramedics:
And, just for fun, here's a picture of the pair behind the scenes:
Looks like the orange uniforms looked better on the page. So how did this meta-reference and killer easter egg happen? Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter, co-showrunner Meredith Averill explained: "When we were breaking the finale, we were discussing how fun it would be to have a cameo for them, but only if it made sense," she said.
"We knew we had the scene where Rufus (Coby Bird) was knocked out and Bode was going to call the police," Averill said. "We recalled that Gabe, in this very meta way, had drawn a panel in which he and Joe played paramedics in the graphic novel. So, how much more meta can we get? Let's have them show up here as paramedics in the series!" Just a case of experts finding the best details to include from their favorite material — and at least it's one thing from the wild finale that actually stuck to the comics.
While there's no timeline so far for an as-of-yet unannounced second season of Locke & Key, its showrunners told SYFY WIRE that they've already written seven new episodes without the official green light from Netflix.
