The Dark Tower just added a critical piece to the puzzle. The Amazon adaptation has taken a pivotal step forward in production as it has cast its Gunslinger, Roland. The actor could be a familiar face to sci-fans. Sam Strike landed the role.
He played Thale on the SyFy series Nightflyers. Now, Sam Strike will take on the central role of Roland Deschain in The Dark Tower TV series. The actor joins the cast as it nears a pilot order from Amazon, per Deadline. Idris Elba played Roland in the 2017 film adaptation of The Dark Tower.
Along with Sam Strike's casting as Roland, there are more definitive explanations regarding the plot. Specifically, the question of when the series will take place in The Dark Tower timeline. The TV series will serve as an origin story for the character as it picks up with Roland long before the movie did.
Among the things covered will be the origins of how Roland acquired his guns and accordingly, became a gunslinger. It will also feature his first mission as one. The series will not be stopping there on Roland's journey of firsts. The Dark Tower TV show will also apparently feature Roland's first skirmish with the man in black.
If that is all too much action for you, there is also a hint of romance. The report says that The Dark Tower television show will tackle the story of Roland's first love. Casting for that role is presumably still underway. As for Roland's arch nemesis, fans may have a good idea of who will play him.
Vikings' Jasper Pääkkönen is believed to have been cast as Randall Flagg, a.k.a. The Man in Black. Fans of the History series will recognize Pääkkönen from his role as Halfdan the Black. Pääkkönen’s character was the brother of Harald Fairhair, who is still alive on the show. Matthew McConaughey played The Man in Black in The Dark Tower movie.
There should be no shortage of excitement that for the series' storyline. Origin stories tend to be a safe place for series to jump off at, especially when it comes to adaptations. It gives a show the chance to establish its characters for those both familiar and unfamiliar with the story.
The news of the lead casting, as well as some plot insight, should undoubtedly be a comfort to Dark Tower fans. There was a time the project seemed destined to never come to fruition. Last year, word that Amazon had picked up the series brought life back to the project.
As for the plot details, they seem to confirm that viewers will get to see aspects of the fourth book in The Dark Tower series adapted for the screen. That book (Wizard and Glass) tells the story of how Roland first acquires his guns, and that is not all.
It also contains the story of how Roland fell in love with Susan Delgado. All of that seems to fit with what the TV show will reportedly chronicle. In the book, Roland is supposed to be 14-years-old when he gets his guns. Sam Strike is 24, so they will presumably be aging the character up a bit for the show.
A premiere date for The Dark Tower has not been set yet, so stay tuned. When it does premiere, it will do so on Amazon, among its other ambitious series.
