Cape Fear is a series so laden with symbolism and legacy, it almost collapses under their weight. Citing as inspiration J. Lee Thompson’s classic 1962 thriller and the 1991 remake by Martin Scorsese , as well as the 1957 John D. MacDonald novel on which they were based, and crediting both Scorsese and Steven Spielberg (who backed Scorsese’s version) as executive producers, the Apple TV adaptation sets expectations high. To justify a 10-episode retelling of a tale already well told in more compact form thrice over, creator Nick Antosca ( A Friend of the Family , Brand New Cherry Flavor )) wouldn’t just have to find new resonances in a seven-decade-old story; he’d need to extract from relatively spare source material eight hours’ worth of compelling television and to find a star as captivating to cast as the iconic villain Max Cady as the two men who previously played the role, Robert Mitchum and Robert De Niro .  This version, whose first two episodes are now streaming, with subsequent installments…