Amazon’s ‘The Dark Tower’ Casts Sam Strike as its Gunslinger

Amazon has added actor Sam Strike to the cast of its upcoming series adaptation of Stephen King‘s Dark Tower series.

Amazon is moving forward with its fresh take on King’s seminal fantasy series, and Strike is the latest to join the cast. According to a new report by Deadline, the former Nightflyers star is set to play Roland Deschain, the central hero portrayed by Idris Elba in the 2017 film version.

This version, however, will be completely unconnected to the 2017 box office flop. Instead, it will reportedly adhere more closely to the story told in the books. Deadline reports that Amazon is very close to formally ordering a pilot for the series, and from there it will decide on whether or not to move forward.

The TV series will not begin with book I of the Dark Tower series, as the movie did. Instead, it will follow Roland’s origin story, as set out in book IV, Wizard and Glass. For those that are not familiar with the series, the Dark Tower books follow an order of knight-like cowboys from an alternate world, not unlike a Tolkien-style fantasy setting.

While the show is not officially on the way yet, Deadline describes it as having a “blinking green light” from Amazon. The studio hopes to create a more successful adaptation of the series, especially as so many other King adaptations are being lauded.

In addition to Strike, the show has cast Jasper Pääkkönen as the antagonist, The Man in Black. Pääkkönen is known for his role on Vikings and in BlacKkKlansman, in addition to other works, but in this case he has the chance to play one of the most iconic villains in King’s sprawling works.

The Man in Black is also referred to as Randall Flagg, Walter O’Dim and in this case, Marten Broadcloak. He was played by Matthew McConoughey in the film adaptation, and he appears across many of King’s books, including The Stand and The Eyes of the Dragon.

Pääkkönen will have his work cut out for him, as CBS All Access is currently developing its series adaptation of The Stand, meaning that there will be two versions of Randall Flagg on the air at once if the Dark Tower goes to series. In this case, however, that would be perfectly in-character for the mysterious sorcerer.

The Dark Tower is being helmed by showrunner and executive producer Glen Mazzara. The series has been in development for over a year at Amazon.