Big news, Stephen King fans: The Walkin’ Dude has arrived.
Collider is reporting that Alexander Skarsgard is set to play Randall Flagg in the CBS All Access adaptation of The Stand. Even for people with a passing knowledge of King’s work know who Flagg is; he’s the personification of evil, the devil’s imp, a seemingly timeless character who is King’s ultimate bad guy. He is the major villain in The Stand, the character who calls out to the dark-hearted survivors of a killer plague that wipes out 99.9% of the universe. Flagg sets up shop in Las Vegas and rallies his minions and followers to wipe out the remaining good people, led by Mother Abagail.
Skarsgard is a casting choice that we honestly should have seen coming. He’s not the biggest star on Earth but he’s a well-regarded Emmy winner who has been on the rise for years. He’s handsome, seemingly playful and has a wicked streak right below the surface. I personally think he’s a bit too good-looking to play Flagg but my doubts are lessened when I think of him mentally seducing weak-willed people like the suave, charming monster he is. He’s not my first pick (I always wanted Hugh Jackman to play the part, though I know that was out of reach) but I do believe he’ll aptly show us the charismatic and creepy side of Flagg. You have to remember that Flagg acts like a politician, appealing to peoples’ base instincts and desires. Like the devil, Flagg is one hell of a charmer and can win people over. I think Skarsgard can definitely pull that off.
Plus his brother Bill played Pennywise in the It films so they’re becoming a very King-friendly family.
Adepo, Teague, Henke, Sunjata (Courtesy Deadline)
But wait, there is MORE The Stand news that broke today. Whoopi Goldberg has been officially cast as Mother Abagail, which I can get behind. Don’t forget that Goldberg is a talented performer, an Oscar winner in fact! We also learned that Jovan Adepo (When They See Us, Overlord) has been cast as Larry Underwood, Owen Teague (Mrs. Fletcher, It) is Harold Lauder, Brad William Henke (Orange is the New Black) is Tom Cullen and Daniel Sunjata (Rescue Me) is a new character named Cobb. They join James Marsden, Amber Heard, Odessa Young, Henry Zaga and presumably Greg Kinnear too.
I can’t comment too much on these choices because I’m not very familiar with the actors (except Sunjata) but they all certainly look the parts. I am curious about this new character that Sunjata is playing. Cobb is apparently a government employee who supervises Stu Redman as the world falls apart and Stu remains immune. On one hand, I like Sunjata so I’m excited to see him in the show. But I hope his part isn’t replacing the multiple pencil-pushing doctors from the book who pester Stu as he remains locked up in a government-run facility. His interactions with those doctors are some of the best, creepiest parts of The Stand. I suspect that a few of those characters will be morphed into one, possibly this Cobb fella.
Josh Boone has his work cut out for him because while a lot of the characters have now been cast, there are still many more roles to fill. The Stand is just massive, it has more characters than a tweet. So while we are now seeing many, many more new faces, we will be seeing many, many more soon.
I think today’s casting news will leave a number of King fans a bit cold because some of these actors aren’t as well-known as many had hoped for, we wanted A-listers across the board. But that doesn’t mean they won’t do a terrific job and we need to give Josh Boone lots of faith. Like I’ve written before, I’ve heard him in extended interviews talking about The Stand and, trust me, he gets it. This is a guy who probably loves the book more than you and I (and I absolutely worship the novel). So, like the immune residents of Boulder believing in Mother Abagail, I too will believe in Josh Boone. Plus I think many of us will stop worrying when we see Alexander Skarsgard flash a maniac smile.
