Locke & Key was in development for almost a full decade before it finally made its way to the small screen. Part of the reason it finally enjoyed its Netflix debut was due to the fans of the source material, the comic books by Joe Hill and Gabriel Rodriguez. As a horror story, unlike most comic book adaptations, it was a property with a massive fanbase.
As such, Locke & Key did what many other beloved comic book properties do when they adapt to the big and small screen. The filmmakers added a ton of little Easter eggs that fans of the comics could pick out and enjoy, while never distracting from the show itself. Here is a look at 10 Locke & Key Easter eggs added for fans of the comics.
10 Welcome To Matheson
The first episode of Locke & Key was titled "Welcome to Matheson." While most people don't even pay attention to the titles, this was one that most of the comic book's fans took notice of. The first collection in the Locke & Key series was titled "Welcome to Lovecraft."
The creators said that they wanted to update the name of the town to pay homage to a different horror icon. The comics honored the man who created the Cthulhu and was highly influential for the otherworldly moments in the comics. Richard Matheson wrote many horror novels, but Hell House plays well into the horror of the Key House.
9 Tom Savini
The comics showed great love for special effects maestro Tom Savini, going so far as to name the high school's horror-loving filmmakers to name their club, the Savini Squad. The Netflix series brought it to life, as well, with the kids proclaiming the love of Savini's work.
Then, when Bode heads into town to the local pawnshop to find a fake antique key to try to trap Dodge, he meets the pawnshop owner who offers him some options. That man is, of course, Tom Savini. It is a great cameo and a perfect Easter egg for fans of Savini and the Locke & Key comic books.
8 Joe Hill And Gabriel Rodriguez
The appearance of Locke & Key creators Joe Hill and Gabriel Rodriguez is not just a nice cameo by the men who created this story, but also something pulled directly out of the comic books. As a reminder, Hill and Rodriquez were the paramedics who arrived at Hill House after the fight in the final episode.
They also appeared in the comics as paramedics, as well. It was a fun cameo in the comics, as Hill was the spitting image of his dad, Stephen King, at that time. On the Netflix series, it was almost a page-to-screen homage for fans of the books.
7 Brian
One of the more disappointing omissions from season one of Locke & Key on Netflix was the downplaying of Uncle Duncan's role in the story. The Netflix series still kept his childhood story intact, with his memories suppressed for his safety as a child. However, the series omitted his present-day story.
Duncan is a gay man who lives with his partner Brian in Provincetown. There was no appearance of Brian or the dangers the couple faced thanks to Dodge. However, there was one moment where Duncan offered the Locke family a chance to stay with him and Brian, a subtle nod to their relationship.
6 The Missing Keys
The first episode of Locke & Key had a moment that was not in the comic book series. In the comics, Dodge killed Mark Cho, but, in the Netflix series, he took his own life using the Matchstick Key, a key that did not exist in the comics. However, this scene did provide Easter eggs for comic book fans.
On the desk, there are drawings of different keys, ones used in the comics, but never showed up on the show. These include pictures of the Animal Key, Timeshift Key, and Skin Key.
5 The Revolutionary War
There was an essential backstory in the Locke & Key comic books hat never played out on the Netflix series. However, there were Easter eggs for fans of the comics that reminded them of the importance of the Revolutionary War. This period is when Benjamin Locke initially created the first keys. Duncan mentioned there was a ton of Revolutionary War books in the library.
That grandfather clock seen in the series is where they used the Timeshift Key to look back at the creation of the keys. The show even had Bode reading a book about Matheson and a passage about the Locke family's importance during the Revolutionary War.
4 Key House Emblems
Blink and you will miss them, or more accurately, be ready to pause the Netflix series at specific points, or you may never see the Key House emblems. When asked about the emblems that show up continuously through the comic books, Carlton Cuse said that they added them all individually.
These emblems added a little touch of the family's importance to the Key House throughout the entire structure. They are noticeable when the camera flies through the house, ala The Shining, Bode is searching through the house for the demon, Dodge.
3 Knock Knock Jokes
The moments with Rendell were few and far between in the Netflix version fo Locke & Key. However, his loss weighs heavily on Tyler, Kinsey, and Nina, and to a lesser extent, on young Bode. Tyler blames himself for his dad's death, Kinsey struggles to find herself without her dad, and Nina relapses to alcoholism.
The comic books do a lot more to add Rendell back into the story through flashbacks as the kids remember their dad. One thing from the comics is Rendell's love of knock-knock jokes with his three kids. It only happened once on the series, with Kinsey, but it was a nice callback.
2 Kinsey's Wings
With limited episodes in Season 1 of Locke & Key, there were many of the magical keys that had to remain sidelined. One of those keys from the comics that never appeared on the Netflix series was the Angel Key. This key gave Kinsey wings in the pages of the book.
Kinsey looked like an angel, flying through the air with those wings. While the key never appeared in the Netflix series, there was an Easter egg for comic book fans who remembered them. When Kinsey was going through the caves, her jacket had angel wings on the front.
1 "Lighter Than Iron"
Whether Netflix will air the second season of Locke & Key or not remains to be seen. However, there is one thing that was extremely important from the comics that never made it to the small screen — the origin of the keys. As far as the TV series is concerned, the keys have always been there.
That is not the case, as there are key makers, and Rendell was one of these with the ability to make the magical keys. It was passed down to Tyler, who used this talent to defeat Dodge. The materials used to craft the keys were Whispering Iron, which was lighter than regular Iron. That is the exact line Tom Savini's character used when looking at the key Bode brought him.