We knew The Vampire Lestate was coming. But I don’t think anyone watching San Diego Comic Con yesterday expected a four-minute teaser featuring Sam Reid in full Rockstat getup, sharing the first page of Anne Rice’s The vampire Lestator a fully realized song yet. But it happened, people. In all its glitzy, melodramatic, and campy glory.

Anne Rice’s Interview with the Vampire just wrapped up a phenomenal season 2. This second season, which covers the second half of the first book, saw Louis (Jacob Anderson) finish his story to Daniel (Eric Bogosian) while revealing the truth about what really happened in Paris. The season is some of the best television you will see this year.

It’s psychological horror storytelling at its finest, all centered around Anderson’s incredible performance as Louis and Delainey Hayles’ fierce and moving portrayal of Claudia. Assad Zaman brings the vampire Armand to life in Season 2 after playing Rashid in Season 1. If you want an example of just how fantastic Anderson and Zaman are in this season, look no further than the fight scene in Episode 5.

Season 3 was announced before the Season 2 finale, with a logline that reads, “I’m angry about the superficial portrayal in the trashy best-seller Interview with the vampire, The Vampire Lestat sets his story straight in a way only the Vampire Lestat can — by starting a band and going on tour. Gabrielle. Nicholas. Magnus. Marius. Those Who Must Be Kept. They join Louis, Armand, Molloy, Sam, Raglan, Fareed and others we can’t tell you about yet on a sexy pilgrimage through space, time and trauma. No Auto-Tuning. No Trigger Warnings. All Feels Amplified.”

That’s pretty much the setup in the Season 3 teaser, which is probably more of a concept trailer than anything else. In it, Daniel talks behind a camera about how they’re waiting for Lestat to show up for an interview. Mentions of murder and trials are thrown around like it’s a typical Saturday. Finally, Lestat enters wearing a black crop top and a lime green jacket that ends in fringe on the sleeves. He’s never looked better (or worse). Finally, Lestat is in the present. As Daniel starts asking him what he thinks of the book, Lestat takes over, interrupting Daniel’s questions and controlling the camera to get people to pay attention. And then the music starts.

There are so many great things to take away from this teaser. First, the use of a documentary as a framework. A documentary-style format seems like a perfect fit for Lestat, who loves to put on a performance. We saw it in Season 2 during the trial, and we’ve seen it in his interactions with Louis and Claudia. The interview that takes place as a documentary creates an evocative atmosphere of truth and performativity. Documentaries claim to tell the truth, but their stories are still determined by people who decide what to show and what not to show.

The sequence in the teaser where Lestat cries, laughs, sobs, and smiles seems like a genuine expression of shame. But it’s also performative, his attempt to garner mass sympathy from the audience (much like he does in the pilot episode). While the show seems to be abandoning the “memory is the monster” theme of the first two seasons, there’s a good chance that this framing will keep the unreliable narrator alive. Lestat is, after all, the “father of lies,” and just because it’s his turn to tell his side of the story doesn’t mean we should all take it at face value. As Reid said during IGN’s interview at Comic-Con, there is truth to Louis’ version of events.

It’s also going to be extremely meta. Bringing Lestat into the contemporary music scene gives Rockstat an interesting landscape to navigate. The play between fans of Daniel’s book in-universe and the real audience is already happening. But there’s also “Excutive producer, Mark Johnson” who introduces himself in the teaser to Lestat, who is the real executive producer on interview with the vampireA makeup artist comes by and introduces herself as Tami, a reference to Tami Lane, the show’s makeup artist.

As I write this, AMC released the full version of the song in the teaser, titled “Long Face.” The musical inspirations for season 3 will be: Rocky horror And Hedwig and the evil thumb, Showrunner Rolin Jones listed a bunch of musical inspirations during yesterday’s panel, including David Bowie, Chappel Roan, Florence Welch, Fiona Apple, Freddie Mercury, and Raleigh Ritchie, with Daniel Hart as composer. Raleigh Ritchie is an interesting addition here, since that’s the stage name of Jacob Anderson. Another meta moment for Season 3. If we’re not going to have Louis and Lestat sing a warring duet, then what’s the point of it all?

Sam Reid embodies Rockstat in both the teaser and the song. Reid’s twist on certain words is incredibly satisfying. If there was any doubt about his take on Rockstat, there shouldn’t be. He’s got the range. And the lyrics! Oh my god, we’re going to get so many songs about Lestat’s yearning for Louis, and it’s going to be every bit as insane as we’ve seen before. I can’t wait.

We got all this from San Diego Comic-Con, but no release date. Season 3 hasn’t started filming yet.

Image courtesy of AMC

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