Summary
For every great hero, there is an equally great villain. Modern stories of heroes often see multiple villains arise to face them, but every hero has that one villain. The villain that pushes the hero to their limits and makes them question everything that they stand for. For Batman, that villain is the Joker,while Superman has Lex Luthor, Spider-Man has Green Goblin, and The Flash has Reverse-Flash. Mirror images of the hero often define the best villains in literary history. ForStephen King’sThe Dark Towerseries, the mirror image of the Gunslinger is none other than the Man in Black, and there is one actor who would be perfect to bring this character to life: Walton Goggins.
Yes, the recent star of theacclaimed third season ofThe White Lotusand known for roles in shows likeThe Righteous Gemstones,Fallout, and the fan-favorite seriesJustifiedas antagonist Boyd Crowder, Walton Goggins has a long and prominent career bringing complex, dark, and engaging characters to life. The Man in Black is all these things, playing to the shadows and manipulating events in theDark Towerseries and beyond to fit both his ends and those of his master, The Crimson King. That is why Walton Goggins is the perfect casting choice for bringing the man in black to life in the upcoming adaptation ofThe Dark Towerby Mike Flanagan.
The Man In Black FromThe Dark Tower, EXPLAINED
To truly see Walton Goggins in the role of the Man in Black, one must understand who the man in black is. The true origins and age of the man in black are not fully known, with his story changing drastically throughout both the Dark Tower series and his other appearances throughout Stephen King’s novels,much like the Joker’s origins changewith each story he tells in Batman comics. What is known is that, aside from serving the Crimson King, the Man in Black is an agent of chaos, sowing discord everywhere that he goes.
While he has gone by many names,including Randall Flagg in Stephen King’sThe Stand, the man in black began his time in The Dark Tower series under the guise of the advisor to the father of the Gunslinger, aka Roland Deschain. While working as an advisor, he had an affair with Roland’s mother, purposefully letting Roland discover their tryst to force Roland into taking the test to become a gunslinger early, hoping it would end with Roland’s failure and stop Roland from becoming the hero he was meant to be. This failed, however, and Roland became the youngest gunslinger in the history of Gilead.
Soon after a series of adventures, Roland returns to Gilead to discover that the Man in Black’s plot has come to fruition, with his father betrayed and his people and kingdom obliteratedby a rising rebel leader, John Farson. Roland becomes the last surviving gunslinger at the Battle of Jericho Hill and makes it his mission to find and keep the Dark Tower safe from the man in black, chasing the villain into the desert. Their war continues from there, with each time Roland thinks he defeats the villain, leading to the man in black somehow surviving, taking on a new form or slipping away into the shadows.
Walton Goggins Pretty Much Just Is The Man In Black At This Point
The role of the Man in Black, aka the Ageless Stranger, is to become the central villain of theDark Towerseries.He may be an agent of the Crimson King, but his vile actions and duplicitous nature have become part of Roland’s journey as the series' hero. Not only does Roland and the Man in Black hold many battles and face off against each other on numerous occasions, but without the schemes of the Man in Black, Roland wouldn’t have become the hero and had the experiences he had to get him on the journey toThe Dark Towerto begin with, making the man in black part of Roland’s destiny, or as it is called in this series, Roland’s ka.
Walton Goggins is no stranger to roles of this nature. His turn as Boyd Crowder featured some truly cunning, sinister, and crafty battles of wit with the hero of the seriesJustified, Raylan Givens. He also has a lot of experience in both sci-fi and western settings, a tone captured through much of theDark Towerseries,thanks to his role as The Ghoul in theFalloutseries. Yet one quality of Walton Goggins’ acting caliber that could play well into an adaptation of this series is the complexity of his darker roles.
Creator Mike Flanagan is no stranger to these complex roles, with his villains showing shades of gray in their actions and motivations. The beauty of a live-action adaptation of this book series, especially if given a multiple-season order, is that further exploration of who the man in black truly is and what made him the agent of chaos he became would give Walton Goggins so much room to flesh out this character and their arc. The haunting reality of the Man in Black, his supernatural abilities, and his role in the downfall of many civilizations could be a reflection of the traumas the man in black suffered before he became this powerful wizard, or perhaps his connection to other influential supernatural figures in theDark Towerseries. Either way, Walton Goggins’ incredible acting career makes him a prime candidate for the role of the Man in Black whenThe Dark Towerseries moves ahead.
