It's no secret that the novels of author Stephen King have been the source for many movies and TV shows over the past several decades. Now, one of his early classics, The Stand, is getting another television miniseries that will star True Blood vet Alexander Skarsgard as none other than the Dark Man himself, Randall Flagg.
If you know nothing of The Stand except the fact that it's a Stephen King story, well, you've probably realized by now that it's horror. In the story, a weaponized flu virus is accidentally released and kills 99.4% of the world's population. As those who are left begin to regroup, a fight between good and evil ignites as Mother Abigail, the embodiment of good, draws some survivors to Boulder, Colorado to re-establish a democratic society and Randall Flagg, the embodiment of evil, draws others to Las Vegas in a lawless community that quickly establishes a weapons program.
According to Collider, Alexander Skarsgard is obviously taking on the role of the primary villain in the 10-part adaptation of The Stand, which will air on CBS All Access. Randall Flagg is an antichrist-like being whose only goals in life are to create destruction and death, and he's gifted with demonic powers, including the ability to change his appearance from human to demonic and that of several different animals.
Even though Flagg isn't clear on his own origins, he's also lived several lives in many different eras. The character has been featured in lots of King stories in other forms, including The Dark Tower series.
Obviously, Alexander Skarsgard is an old hand at playing supernatural bad guys. He spent seven seasons playing 1,000-year-old vampire Eric Northman on HBO's fantastical drama True Blood, where he excelled at being creepy, intimidating, charismatic, calculating and self-interested but still kinda hot, mostly because he wasn't 100% evil.
Unfortunately, Randall Flagg sounds like he will be several million degrees scarier and more powerful than the world's most bored vampire (1,000 years is just too long to walk the Earth, you guys), so unless you like the idea of true evil winning over good, this guy's probably not going to give anyone happy dreams anytime soon.
Skarsgard has also recently become known for playing another very bad dude. His role as the menacing and abusive Perry Wright on HBO's Big Little Lies won the actor an Emmy, SAG Award and Golden Globe. Clearly, Alexander Skarsgard knows what he's doing when it comes to men we really should stay far away from (and maybe just go ahead and call the police anyway, to be safe).
Many of the rest of the leading cast for this epic tale, which will be co-written by Josh Boone and Ben Cavell (Stephen King has written the final installment), has already been set. Flagg's opposition, Mother Abigail, will be played by Whoopi Goldberg, and James Marsden (Westworld), Amber Heard (Aquaman), Odessa Young (Assassination Nation), Henry Zaga (13 Reasons Why), Jovan Adepo (The Leftovers), Owen Teague (IT Chapter Two), Brad William Henke (Orange Is the New Black) and Daniel Sunjata (Manifest) rounding out the main cast.
The Stand and Alexander Skarsgard's Randall Flagg are due on CBS All Access at some point in 2020, but until then be sure to stay up to date on all of fall television's premieres.
