Greetings Flick Nation. That headline you see is what we writers call “click bait” and chances are, you’ve been hooked. See, what I wrote there makes you think maaaaaybe Matthew McConaughey will be in a Men in Black movie or maaaaaybe he’ll be portraying Johnny Cash. Fortunately for you, it’s neither of these things but is much better and also: made you look! Anyway…
I think I’ve noted it here before but in case you missed it, I’m a huuuuge Stephen King fan. I always have been ever since I was in 5th grade and did a book report (with diorama!) on King’s Cujo. Still, I must admit I’ve only recently started in on the Dark Tower series because, well, I was busy and the first time I tried to read it, it didn’t stick. But now, oh boy, I’m in! It’s a brilliant, sweeping, epic work of many genres and I’m actually a little glad I waited as King has just started bringing in characters from his other books to it. While it’s certainly not a necessity that you have read every King book in order for The Dark Tower stories to make sense, it’s also super cool knowing who these people are. Kind of like when minor comic book characters show up in film or TV adaptations.
Probably the biggest and baddest villain in the King Universe is Randal Flagg, a hip dude who is truly evil incarnate. He appears in many King novels (most notably The Stand which is also coming soon. Eeek!) and is the main villain in The Dark Tower. This week news broke that Matthew McConaughey has been offered a role in the upcoming Ron Howard/Akiva Goldsmith/Brian Grazer produced version of the film but what is not clear is what role he’s been offered; Flagg or the hero of the books, the knight-like gunslinger, Roland. I think pretty much everyone is hoping it’s Flagg and many (ok fine, mostly me) are hoping McConaughey plays that role is all the King Universe films featuring Flagg (he’s already been rumored for Flagg in The Stand), but he could be a good Roland as well. Although my bet is on that role is Hugh Jackman who’s looking for a new post-Wolverine franchise. Jackman –vs- McConaughey? Box office gold I tells ya!
