The long-awaited adaptation of Locke & Key is finally hitting Netflix this Friday. The incredible comic from Joe Hill and Gabriel Rodriguez has finally been adapted by the streaming juggernaut. Locke & Key follows three siblings who are pulled into a supernatural conflict after their father’s murder.
One of the most interesting elements of the comic is the collection of powerful, demonic keys that drive the story. How will the live-action versions of these keys turn out? Here’s a selection of keys and abilities we’re most excited to see come to life.
The Ghost Key
Like the Head Key, the Ghost Key is one of the first and most important keys in the Locke & Key series. This key allows the user to pass through a door as a ghost. While their body lies dead on the ground, their ghost can fly anywhere freely.
As a cornerstone of the Locke & Key universe, this key will hopefully be one of the coolest to see in action. Netflix has produced some incredible ghost effects alongside Mike Flanagan for The Haunting of Hill House series. There’s a lot of potential for cool VFX to bring the Ghost Key to life.
The Head Key
This key is one of the most important to the Locke & Key story. It’s one of the first keys the kids discover when they move to Keyhouse. The Head Key is also a huge part of Kinsey’s character development throughout the story. The key allows the user to unlock a person’s mind, and put things in or pull things out.
We may not get the literal “open minds” of the comic, but there’s still a lot of potential for cool, trippy scenes in the show. It’s exciting to imagine how the series will make each character’s thoughts come to life.
The Giant Key
The Giant Key is one of the body transformation keys that makes the user - you guessed it - giant. The key is only used a few times in the comic, whether to squash evil or “play with cars.” It’s not as central to the main story as The Head Key, but it’s incredible to see every time it’s used.
Watching a character wield this huge key and come out of the house as such an imposing figure is awe-inspiring. Every Giant Key sequence drawn by Gabriel Rodriguez in the Locke & Key comic is gorgeous, so hopefully, Netflix captures that same majesty.
The Shadow Key
The Shadow Key allows users to access the Crown of Shadows and control shadow creatures. These aren’t just the ghosts of whoever uses it, mind you. The types of shadow creatures that emerge when this key is used are several degrees of terrifying. It’s a strong example of just how good Locke & Key is at both action and horror.
This key plays to some of the classic horror that defines Joe Hill’s work. It’s very similar to the iconic evils that his father, Stephen King, cooks up as well. This key represents the ultimate potential of the Locke & Key universe.
The Matchstick Key
There is a question as to this key’s name because it’s not actually from the comic. It’s a key that we see briefly in a “From Comic to Screen” teaser video from Netflix. We see a character drag this key along a prison wall, causing flames to grow out. This “fire key” appears to be in the possession of Sam Lesser, who uses the key to aid his escape.
What other ways will this new key show up in the Locke & Key world? It’s exciting that the series isn’t afraid to introduce new keys. As if a flamethrower key wasn’t cool enough, the fact this key represents a whole new world of powers makes it especially exciting.
Updated February 10th, 2020: It turns out the “Fire Key” is actually “The Matchstick Key!”
The Hercules Key
Another body-transforming key, the Hercules Key and corresponding amulet allow the user to become super muscular. It’s like wearing a bike lock that lets you go from Steve Rogers to Captain America. It’s one of the most useful keys when it comes to knocking down the various horrors of Lovecraft, MA.
However, the Hercules Key might offer a deeper level of horror, too. It could give the Locke & Key team a chance to do some creepy muscular body horror. Maybe not on the same level as Spaceboy from The Umbrella Academy, but there’s a lot to play with. Who knows how the series will choose to depict this transformation.
The Music Box Key
The Music Box Key is a delightfully original concept, even in such an imaginative book. This key unlocks a specialty music box that allows someone to mind-control another. The box sings a song that ensnares anyone in earshot, singing a song of the user’s demands.
It’s an incredible flex of Hill’s creative muscles as a writer. When every issue or episode with this key can suddenly include a musical number that makes you kill your brother, there’s a whole other level of horror. The Music Box Key is one of the most unique creations in the Locke & Key universe, and arguably its creepiest.
The Animal Key
Have you ever wondered what it would be like to be a dog? The Animal Key lets the user transform into any animal, and communicate with other animals of the same species. In the Locke & Key comic, this leads to a particularly brutal conflict between birds and wolves, each led by a transformed human.
While the transformation of a person to an animal is trippy on its own, the comic added another layer to this key. This comic combined the introduction of The Animal Key with a Calvin & Hobbes-esque style for Bode’s point of view. This might not make it into the TV show, but the opportunity to play with the TV format is an interesting prospect.
The Omega Key
This key is the first magical key crafted, and it’s probably the most important key in the universe. The Omega Key unlocks the Black Door, which holds back all the horrors that populate Locke & Key.
What makes this key jump up in priorities is that it appears to come up quickly in this show. In the show’s official Netflix trailer, it appears that the kids are all together, opening (and then trying to close) the Black Door. The fact the Omega Key is used in the show’s first season means there could be a whole collection of new horrors we’ve never seen before.
The Squirrel Key
Yes, there’s a key called the Squirrel Key (though it’s also known as the Undertree Key). This is different than the Animal Key, which could technically turn you into a squirrel. The Squirrel Key allows the user to, presumably, control all squirrels.
The key is only ever used in the comic once, for a single panel. The key made a squad of squirrels attack the Locke kids, but that’s all that’s known for sure about this key. With the Locke & Key series getting an update in this Netflix series, now is the perfect time to see the Squirrel Key in all its terrifying glory.
