A few months ago, a huge chunk of casting goodness for CBS All Access’ remake of Stephen King’s The Stand (as a limited series) sprang forth from Collider. The outlet reported that James Marsden would play the heroic Stu Redman, and Amber Heard would pick up the duplicitous Nadine Cross. Those details were later confirmed by showrunner Josh Boone, along with the casting of Whoopi Goldberg as Mother Abagail Freemantle, and on Wednesday, King (who is co-executive producing) visited The View to chat with Goldberg and the rest about the casting process.
In doing so, King dropped other new additions to the series, including Owen Teague (Bloodline) as Harold Lauder, Brad William Henke (Orange Is The New Black) as Tom Cullen, Daniel Sunjata (Rescue Me) as Cobb, and Jovan Adepo (The Leftovers) as Larry Underwood. However, he did not mention who would be playing the main antagonist, Randall Flagg, who stalked through his epic work of apocalyptic fiction. When Marilyn Manson announced his own casting a few months ago, some speculated that he might be Flagg, but it seems more likely that he’ll play one of Flagg’s followers. Well, Collider now reports that the role has been filled by Alexander Skarsgard:
[T]here was one name who King didn’t announce – and it’s a big one. Collider has exclusively learned that, on the heels of winning an Emmy, a Golden Globe and a SAG Award for his menacing turn on HBO’s Big Little Lies, Alexander Skarsgard is preparing to play the personification of evil, The Man in Black himself … Mr. Randall Flagg.
It seems likely that Collider’s report is on the mark, given that they also broke the casting of Marsden and Heard, so we’re probably gonna see Skarsgard get necromantic and prophetic as Flagg (also known as the Walkin’ Dude, the Dark Man, and a few other nicknames). Excellent pick, yes? He’s no Walton Goggins, but Skarsgard will do nicely. Oh, and while on The View, King didn’t utter a peep about the new ending he wrote for the updated limited series, nor do we know whether Payday bars will still be the candy obsession of choice for Harold Lauder. So many mysteries left to unfold, and The Stand will surface on CBS All Access sometime in 2020.
(Via Collider)
