After a brief bit of casting announcements, it’s been all quiet on the news front for Josh Boone’s CBS All Access adaptation of Stephen King’s The Stand. Well, with one exception: we recently learned that King himself is going to write a new ending for the story. Apparently Boone’s final episode will contain a fairly lengthy epilogue of sorts that King has cooked up. It’s something brand new and something King has had in mind for awhile he says.
Of course we won’t learn too many details about this new ending yet but an interview with King revealed just a little more. We at least know which characters will be involved in this ending.
From the New York Times:
“For the upcoming CBS All Access adaptation of his end-of-the-world saga “The Stand,” he has penned a new ending that sounds like a happily-ever-after for two survivors of Armageddon. ‘Had it for years,’ he says wistfully. ‘I always wanted to find out what happened to Stu and Frannie when they went back.’”
SPOILERS AHEAD FOR THE NOVEL!
Well, there you have it: it sounds like the new ending for The Stand will revolve around Frannie and Stu. Fans of the book will know that the couple moved back to the east coast at the conclusion of the novel, setting up camp in Frannie’s old neck of the woods with their newborn son. So we have already received an ending with these two. I guess King just has more to say about the days, months and years ahead for the them and their expanding family.
I’m one of the King fans who actually quite enjoys the ending to The Stand. I like the cynical tone and the ambiguity. These characters go through so much and watch the world end. They literally defeat evil yet are still left with a feeling of “does it even matter?” The novel refuses to say if society and civilization will change or if life really is just a wheel and we are doomed to repeat the past again and again. It’s a pretty dour ending if you ask me and I really like that.
At the same time, I’m more than willing to see what King has in store for Fran and Stu. He has made no secret of the fact that he’s heard the fan complaints over the years. Perhaps he will do something to lessen those comments and please those readers. Or, hell, he might give them new reasons to complain.
