By now we know, Randall Flagg, the evil, devil-like creature/dark wizard that has populated many of Stephen King’s books — starting with The Stand — will be played by none other than Matthew “Alright, Alright, Alright” McConaughey in the upcoming four-part cinematic adaptation. For fans of King, and fans of the McConaissance, this is fantastic news. McConaughey has shown that he can play a variety of characters, and has in the past embodied the traits of both the evil and virtuous sort. And Flagg is quite evil — a “quasi-immortal” with dark and dangerous powers that can do anything from entering dream states to manipulating the wills of animals. In The Stand, after a virus wipes out most of the world’s population, Flagg uses his powers to resurrect Las Vegas, making it his temple to build a congregation that bends to his will of chaos and nihilism.
In order to absorb himself into what Stephen King calls the greatest villain he has ever created, Matthew McCongaughy will have to delve deep into the well in which he stores the voices and textures he uses to paint his characters. Let’s take a look at just who Randall Flagg is, and just how McConaughey might bring him to life.
The Look: Randall is described as wearing boots, and denim jeans and jacket with “the face of a hatefully happy man, a face that radiated a horrible handsome warmth, a face to make water glasses shatter in the hands of tired truck-stop waitresses, to make small children crash their trikes into board fences and then run wailing to their mommies with stake-shaped splinters sticking out of their knees. It was a face guaranteed to make barroom arguments over batting averages turn bloody.”
The McConaughey: He’s got no problem pulling off slightly handsome and denim-clad.
The Violence: In order to quell any type of rebellion in his new world order that he built atop the rubble of Las Vegas, Randall uses brutal methods of torture and murder to put to rest any dissidence among his congregation and his enemies.
The McConaughey: Matthew has no qualms in getting his hands dirty when the time calls for it. In fact, he does crazy just as well as any other actor.
The Rhetoric: Just like the devil himself, Flagg can at times be a charismatic man, seemingly sympathetic but with a subtext that renders the endgame in his favor.
The McConaughey: As a normally-balanced man, McConaughey — with his southern wit and charm — could probably have any woman in the world that he wants. But, when he couples that with a concealed tinge of depravity, well, he can have anything he wants, including a sex slave:
As you can see, Matthew McConaughey has all the tools necessary to pull off one of Stephen King’s most villainous creations. While we can expect his performance to be riveting, let’s just hope the rest of the film can catch up to the magic of Double-M.