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‘The Stand’ Episode 2 Spoilers: Who is Nadine Cross? Meet Amber Heard's character and how she meets the Dark Man

During the superflu crisis, Nadine is a 37-year-old striking teacher with thick black hair shot through with strands of white

Spoilers for ‘The Stand’ on CBS All Access and Stephen King's 1978 book

Mirroring the COVID-19 curse, ‘The Stand’ depicts a mystical and apocalyptic vision of a world decimated by plague inspired by Stephen King's dark fantasy novel first published in 1978 by Doubleday. If that wasn't enough to pull your attention, the stellar cast will definitely turn heads. Apart from the absolute stunner James Marsden as Stuart Redman, Whoopi Goldberg plays 108-year-old Mother Abagail and Alexander Skarsgård stars as the Dark Man, but the one name on everyone's minds is Amber Heard. 

Infamous for her scandal with her ex-husband Johnny Depp, the 34-year-old is all set to make a splash in the limited nine-episodic series. Although most fans are spellbound by the star cast, many called for #BoycottTheStand when they found out she was a part of the series. 

“Was REALLY excited to watch #TheStand until I saw that @realamberheard is in it. I love @Kat_McNamara and many others in the cast. But she ruins the whole thing. Sorry @CBSAllAccess but I won’t be watching it. #FireAmberHeard #AmberHeardIsAnAbuser #BoycottTheStand,” one tweet read and another said, “Was looking forward to #TheStand by #StephenKing until I found out that #AmberHeard is in it... after what she did to #JohnnyDepp I have absolutely no time for her!! Disgusting human being in my opinion.”

As the chaos around Heard spreads like wildfire on the internet, here's a look at her character in the series and the book. Moreover, here's all the scoop about what episode she is on in the CBS All Access show. But beware of spoilers and read at your own risk.

Who does Amber Heard play?

Amber Heard will be seen as Nadine Cross on the show. As per CBR, Nadine infiltrates the survivor community established in Boulder, Colorado, while Larry is a musician caught in Manhattan as the world plunges into the contagion-fueled chaos, scrambling to escape the city and reach Boulder.

Shedding light on the series, she said it's “ironic” that the show is being screened amid the coronavirus pandemic. “We stopped filming at the end of March, luckily it was at the end of filming, but still I had to go do reshoots later when things started to open back up again, so it is ironic that we had to stop filming on our show about a global pandemic and a power struggle of good and evil, and a government and society that will shut down after a pandemic … right before one. It's really interesting timing.”

In a roundtable interview, she spoke about her character in depth and said, “Nadine is a bit of a double agent,” Heard explained. “She has lived enough and is smart enough to know to adapt herself to the expectations of whoever she's talking to and dealing with, and it can be challenging to play a character that is basically functioning with their own motivations and intentions that are not exactly clear.”

She added, “But I protected the integrity of her ability to pull off that disguise and that mission by leaning into the truth of what was compelling her to be in communication with these people in the first place. I leaned into the truth of, for instance, her connection with the character that Jovan plays. She genuinely does care about Larry, genuinely is compelled to him and what he represents, leaning into the truth of what could and does keep her there as a human and that allows her to effectively be the double agent she is in such an effective way; it's real.”

Who was Nadine Cross in the book?

An orphan adopted at the age of four and a half months, Nadine Cross is introduced as a young girl with a tragic childhood. Her adoptive parents die in a car crash when she is six and she goes to live with relatives who feel burdened with the responsibility of a child so late in their lives. In the book, she never really has a normal relationship with boys and comes to believe her virginity has a sacred purpose, like an “unbroken vessel”.

During the superflu crisis, Nadine is a 37-year-old striking teacher with thick black hair shot through with strands of white. She has dreams of her future husband — Randall Flagg aka The Dark Man. When she has a sexually-charged experience imagining him, a little more of her hair turns white. While searching for survivors after the plague in Epsom, New Hampshire, Nadine stumbles upon Leo Rockway: a twelve-year-old boy, who she calls “Joe”. The two later join Larry Underwood. In the book, she later begs Larry to have sex with her as she believes the Dark Man is after her only for her virginity. 

“I see Nadine as a human,” Amber Heard told CBR during the roundtable interview, adding, “She was groomed from an early age and the influence that has had, especially if the person doing the grooming is supernatural. I know a lot of strong people, but it would take a whole kind of human to be able to overcome that, and I think that's why she's an important character in the book because we get a sense [that] she even can't overcome the forces that played on her but that was from the time she was a young child and she has a very, very dark past and even with those influences playing on her.”

The actress added, “She still found it hard to ultimately take those final steps and vacate her stand; she takes her own stand. And it took work to do that, she does feel so hard for these humans that are trying so hard to build something better and build something new. She feels for Larry, she feels for the kid, she is drawn to the people that she has met in the Boulder Free Zone, and it is hard for her to ultimately commit to what she knows she needs to because that's what she's been trained to do and waiting to do and destined to do, in some ways, since she was kin... So I think what you were saying about her being the ultimate victim and the tragedy, I would agree wholeheartedly but it's the battle to get there, the battle to resist it, that I found so interesting; that's what Nadine does well: She tries really hard to fulfill her mission but she fights it very hard too and how could she not? She sees humanity and it is intoxicating in its own way and I think seeing her fight off the light is tragic but it's interesting.”

What episode is she on?

Get set to catch Amber Heard starting from Episode 2 ‘Pocket Savior’ and her character is continually seen in the other episodes too. Subsequently, she will be a part of all episodes — Episode 3 ‘Blank Pages (2020), Episode 4 ‘The House of the Dead (2021), Episode 5 ‘Suspicious Minds (2021), Episode 6 ‘The Vigil (2021), Episode 7 ‘The Walk (2021), Episode 8 ‘The Stand (2021) and Episode 9 ‘Coda: Frannie in the Well (2021).

Fans, however, are not too pleased to see her. One said, “We have nothing against Stephen King, a master of the written word. We just can not in good conscious support a show that involves self-proclaimed abuser Amber Heard,” and another posted, “There is NOT a chance that I will see this movie because #AmberHeardIsTheRealAbuser I read #TheStand I adore #StephenKing but no chance! Y’all backed the wrong horse on this one!”

Nonetheless, are you willing to give the show a chance? What do you think of Amber Heard's character? 

‘The Stand’ premieres on December 17, 2020, with the first episode titled ‘The End’ and subsequent episodes in the nine-episode limited-event series will follow every Thursday on CBS All Access.