Devil in Disguise: John Wayne Gacy arrives with a gripping first look from Peacock, chronicling one of America’s most infamous serial killers. A new trailer released on Tuesday follows Gabriel Luna as Detective Rafael Tovar as he fights to build a case against John Wayne Gacy, played by Michael Chernus, after authorities uncover a mass grave beneath the killer’s home.
The trailer centers on Tovar’s push to secure stronger charges than illegal graveyard operation, as Illinois investigators search for additional evidence to connect Gacy to a string of disappearances and murders. Viewers also get a glimpse of the human cost behind the case through the Piest family, with Greg Bryk and Marin Ireland portraying Harold and Elizabeth Piest, the parents of Robert Piest, Gacy’s last known victim whose disappearance eventually led to the discovery of the crawl space graves.
Devil in Disguise: John Wayne Gacy, inspired by the 2021 Peacock docuseries from NBC News Studios, promises a deep dive into Gacy’s outwardly affable, all-American facade that masked a brutal killer. The series weaves together the stories of the mostly young men who fell victim to him, the grief and trauma of their families, and a critical look at the systemic failures and societal prejudices that allowed his reign of terror to go undetected for years.
The project is led by Littleton Road Productions with Patrick MacManus serving as showrunner, writer, and executive producer. Noah Oppenheim and Liz Cole also executive produce for Littleton Road Productions, with NBC News Studios involvement, while Ashley Michel Hoban, Ahmadu Garba and Kelly Funke produce for NBC News Studios. Universal Content Productions (UCP), a division of Universal Studio Group, is the studio backing the series.
What this means for viewers is a closer examination of how a community can be deceived by a familiar, trusted figure, alongside a dedication to honoring the victims and their families by presenting their stories with care and context. The show aims to provide not only a recounting of the crimes but also a critique of the failures that allowed such a case to persist, offering a sobering, historically informed perspective on one of the most chilling chapters in American crime history.
If you’re following true crime storytelling, Devil in Disguise: John Wayne Gacy offers a narrative that combines procedural rigor with a human-centered exploration of impact—an approach that could spark meaningful conversations about justice, memory, and accountability.