We now have our first official look at the new version of horror maestro Stephen King's legendary plague novel The Stand. The images that have been released give us a good look at the kind of atmosphere to expect from the upcoming miniseries, as well as several of the show's impressive ensemble cast members as their respective characters, including Alexander Skarsgård as the demonic Randall Flagg.
Intriguingly, there is currently no sign of Westworld and Sonic the Hedgehog star James Marsden as the story's principal protagonist Stu Redman or of Aquaman star Amber Heard as Nadine Cross. However, the stills do spotlight several of the other prominent characters such as The Leftovers star Jovan Adepo as Larry Underwood, Boogie Nights star Heather Graham as Rita Blakemoor, It star Owen Teague as Harold Lauder, and Assassination Nation star Odessa Young as Frannie Goldsmith. The images do also give us a good look at the story's opposing forces of light and darkness, with Whoopi Goldberg looking suitably mystical as Mother Abagail and Alexander Skarsgård looking alluringly devilish as Randall Flagg.
Showrunner Taylor Elmore has been discussing Alexander Skarsgard's role as Randall Flagg, offering some insight into the show's charismatic villain.
"He's so charming and he's so handsome and so powerful-I mean genuinely powerful, able to perform these sort of miracles where he could levitate himself and he has these actual powers. And yet he needs this adulation and this kind of worship from these people whom he's summoned to him. He needs to have them make a show all the time of how grateful they are to him."
The Stand is a disturbingly prescient tale, the narrative of which details King's apocalyptic vision of a world decimated by plague and embroiled in an elemental struggle between good and evil. The fate of mankind rests on the frail shoulders of the 108-year-old Mother Abagail and a handful of survivors. Their worst nightmares are embodied by a man with a lethal smile and unspeakable powers: Randall Flagg, the nefarious 'Dark Man'.
The Stand miniseries will reshuffle the chronology of the source material, meaning that it will not play out linearly. Instead, the show will begin with the plague having already hit, using flashbacks to show the character's old lives before the world went to hell. The novel remains one of Stephen King's greatest achievements, and this new take, with all of the talent involved, has a good chance of being a very worthy adaptation. The Stand was previously adapted as a miniseries on ABC in 1994, starring Gary Sinise and Molly Ringwald.
This new take based on Stephen King's 1978 novel of the same name was announced last year and will be comprised of a 10-episode miniseries courtesy of CBS All Access. The series will be directed, written, and produced by The Fault in our Stars and New Mutants director Josh Boone. Though no release date has yet been set, reports indicate that release date sometime in 2020 seems likely. This comes to us courtesy of Vanity Fair.