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119-552: Flagg first appeared in King's 1978 novel The Stand as a demonic figure who wreaks havoc after a plague kills most of the world population. He makes his second appearance in the 1984 novel The Eyes of the Dragon as an evil wizard trying to plunge the fictional medieval city of Delain into chaos. Flagg is a primary antagonist in King's epic series, The Dark Tower , where he tries to keep protagonist Roland Deschain from reaching

238-399: A Marine , a Klansman , and a Viet Cong member, and having a hand in the kidnapping of Patty Hearst . In Las Vegas Flagg attracts people drawn to destruction, power and tyranny, using crucifixion , torture and other punishments on those disloyal to him. His followers reorganize society, repairing and restarting services in the city of Las Vegas, Nevada. Flagg plans to attack and destroy

357-514: A caesarean section . The baby, named Peter after Frannie's late father, manages to fight off the superflu. Four months later, Stuart and Frannie decide to leave Boulder and move to Ogunquit as society is slowly reestablished. The extended edition includes an epilogue in which Flagg, having survived the nuclear explosion, wakes up somewhere in the Southern Hemisphere. Regaining his former strength, he begins recruiting adherents among

476-522: A "collection of masks". Flagg symbolizes "the inexplicable fear of the return of bygone powers—both technological and, as his last name intimates, sociopolitical ". Like other Gothic villains, Flagg's plans seem to fail at every turn as he seems to need to convince others of his importance. Winter asserts that Flagg is a Miltonic superman who receives his strength from a dark, mysterious source. He compares him to J. R. R. Tolkien 's Sauron in The Lord of

595-616: A broken nose and greasy hair. He's starting to bald, but he's always got a very white separation in the middle of it. He's just so greasy, he's great to draw. And he still has to be seductive at the same time, so you can't make him repulsive... He's such a great character." Marvel later released a comic book adaptation of The Stand , which began in September 2008 and ran for thirty issues. Writer Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa described Flagg as "The man of nightmares. Or, put another way, our nightmares given human (more or less) form. The dark side of

714-429: A college restaurant, the one-page poem was published in 1969, but the character never left King's mind. To the author, what made Flagg interesting was "the idea of the villain as somebody who was always on the outside looking in, and hated people who had good fellowship and good conversation and friends". When Stephen King created the character of Flagg, he based him around what he believed evil represented. To King, Flagg

833-474: A common dream in which they see a centenarian woman living in Hemingford Home, Nebraska . The woman, Abagail Freemantle – better known as "Mother Abagail" – becomes the group's spiritual leader. She brings the group to Boulder, Colorado , to which other survivors are attracted by her telepathic appeals. New additions to the group include Nick Andros, a deaf-mute deputy from Shoyo, Arkansas; Tom Cullen,

952-472: A couple of days, his car crashes at a gas station in Arnette, Texas. The gas station employees and ambulance workers are infected when they take the dying Campion out of his car and to a hospital. The gas station owner infects his cousin, a traffic cop, and the virus rapidly spreads uncontrollably from there. The United States Army attempts to isolate Arnette, going as far as to execute unarmed civilians, but

1071-614: A dark cloak, and most of his magic comes from spells, potions, and poisons. He is described as a "sickness" which seems to reappear in Delain when there is something worth destroying. In this novel, Flagg schemes to throw the kingdom of Delain into chaos by poisoning the king and framing Prince Peter, the legitimate heir to the throne, for the crime. Peter's naive, resentful younger brother Thomas becomes king instead; Flagg, whom he sees as his only friend, becomes his royal advisor. Due to his youth and inexperience, Thomas allows Flagg great power and

1190-405: A description of DeFreeze: "Donald DeFreeze is a dark man". He remembered that in photographs of the bank robbery in which Patty Hearst participated that DeFreeze was only partially visible, hidden under a large hat. What he looked like was based on guesses made by people who only saw a portion of him. This inspired King, who then wrote "A dark man with no face". After reading "Once in every generation

1309-527: A final brilliant interval before true death. In dreams—his, at least—the bad guys, the scary guys, never have complex emotions. Stephen King, Wolves of the Calla Flagg's embodiment of evil is not the only characteristic seen by critics. Author Joseph Reino commented that the character's presence in The Stand was "Stephen King's version of a pestilential Big Brother ". Tony Magistrale revisits

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1428-540: A flashback in the second installment of the Dark Tower series, The Drawing of the Three . Roland recalls seeing two men named Thomas and Dennis pursuing a man named Flagg, who was almost certainly a demon. These are implied to be the same characters from The Eyes of the Dragon . This is the first example of the Dark Tower series crossing over with one of King's other novels. Flagg makes his next full appearance in

1547-461: A giant glowing hand — " the Hand of God " — which detonates the bomb, destroying Las Vegas and killing all of Flagg's followers, along with Larry and Ralph. Tom finds Stu close to death, but a verbal apparition of Nick leading to a supply of antibiotics saves his life. After nursing him back to health and helping his leg heal, the two travel back to Boulder, where Frannie has given birth to her son after

1666-479: A higher power to which Flagg "must appeal to his abilities" as there is with traditional evil. Flagg is more of a "humanesque evil", which works against him as much as it does for him. His supernatural knowledge is fallible, and the customary black-and-white depiction is replaced with an "acceptance of a shadowy gray area". Stickler says that although Flagg appears "terrifying and supernatural" as depicted by King, there are no absolutes. She concludes that Flagg represents

1785-548: A kind-hearted, intellectually disabled man from May, Oklahoma; Nadine Cross, a teacher from New Hampshire; and Ralph Brentner, a good-natured farmer from Oklahoma. The group attempts to build a new society. They call their land the "Free Zone", organize funeral brigades and restore a supply of electricity. Meanwhile, in Las Vegas , Randall Flagg , the dark man, possessing supernatural abilities, creates his own society from people called by his visions. The people worship Flagg as

1904-516: A lead role. The Eyes of the Dragon was originally titled The Napkins . The Eyes of the Dragon takes place entirely within the realm of Delain (which itself is located within In-World from The Dark Tower series, as established in " The Little Sisters of Eluria "). It is told from the perspective of an unnamed storyteller/narrator, who speaks casually and frankly to the reader, frequently adding his own commentary on characters' motivations and

2023-454: A leader." Beginning in 2007, Marvel Comics released a series of comics which were a prequel to the Dark Tower novels. Randall Flagg, appearing as Marten Broadcloak and Walter o'Dim, plays a significant role in the series. In April 2009, Marvel released a single-issue comic written by Robin Furth and illustrated by Richard Isanove entitled The Dark Tower: Sorcerer , which focused on

2142-590: A liar, and a tempter". To Stringell, Flagg's disappearance at the end of The Stand shows that "evil ultimately leads nowhere". The author calls Flagg a "generic hybrid" of the archetypical "Dark Man and the Trickster". To her, the combination of these two characteristics found in different cultural realms forces people to face their "flawed humanity" with the " amorality " Flagg represents. Jenifer Paquette, author of Respecting The Stand: A Critical Analysis of Stephen King's Apocalyptic Novel , writes that "Flagg's horror

2261-526: A long discussion about Roland's destiny and the Tower which causes him to slip into delirium. He awakens to find a pile of bones in Walter's place. In the original edition, Walter and Marten are separate characters, with Walter dying at the end of the novel. When King published an expanded edition of the novel,and Walter and Marten are portrayed as identical, and Walter fakes his own death. Flagg appears briefly in

2380-539: A man walking the roads in cowboy boots, denim jeans and a jacket, a notion which "came out of nowhere" when he was in college. King first wrote the poem " The Dark Man " in college, about an unnamed man who rides the rails and confesses to murder and rape. The one-page poem was published in Ubris in 1969. According to King, the poem served as the genesis for Flagg. There was a dark hilarity in his face, and perhaps in his heart, too, you would think—and you would be right. It

2499-511: A messiah and joyfully submit to his fascist dictatorship, in which undesirables are crucified. Flagg rescues spree killer Lloyd Henreid from prison and makes him his lieutenant. A pyromaniac nicknamed "The Trashcan Man", after destroying oil tanks in Gary, Indiana and meeting a madman named "The Kid", joins Flagg's group and becomes a weapons specialist. Flagg prepares for war with Boulder. Mother Abagail, believing she has been too prideful watching

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2618-483: A metaphor for his feelings of being chained to writing horror fiction. Initially The Eyes of the Dragon was to be created as an animated film produced through the French company WAMC Entertainment. The film would have a budget of $ 45 million and was expected to release in late 2001 or early 2002. However the film did not progress into active production and the rights lapsed in 2000. In 2012 Syfy announced that it

2737-468: A more powerful weapon for Flagg. When Tom's fleeting presence in Las Vegas as the sole surviving spy belatedly comes to light, Nadine takes advantage of Flagg's unsettled state to goad him into killing her and her unborn child. Stuart breaks his leg en route and persuades the others to go on without him, telling them that God will provide for him if that is what is meant to happen. Leaving Kojak with Stu,

2856-463: A multi-movie version of The Stand , but left the project in October 2011, as Yates felt it would work better as a miniseries. Both Ben Affleck and Scott Cooper dropped out over creative differences with the studio. On February 25, 2014, Josh Boone was hired to write and direct the adaptation. He later revealed that he wanted Christian Bale to play Randall Flagg and Matthew McConaughey for

2975-488: A new civilization in the United States after a plague kills most of the population. Flagg is described as a "tall man of no age" in old blue jeans, denim jacket and old cowboy boots. He wears an old Boy Scout knapsack, and his jacket pockets are stuffed with pamphlets from dozens of fringe splinter groups. Flagg's background is vague, even to him; he says that at some point he just "became", although he remembers being

3094-471: A new preface by King and illustrations by Bernie Wrightson , which were later released as a portfolio. Doubleday published a deluxe edition of The Stand: The Complete and Uncut Edition , limited to 1,250 numbered copies and 52 lettered copies. This edition, known as the "Coffin Box" edition due to the book being housed in a wooden case, was signed by King and Wrightson. The Stand received critical acclaim: it

3213-486: A new screenplay, omitting some parts for television broadcast. The miniseries , directed by Mick Garris , was broadcast in 1994. Between 2011 and 2016, Warner Bros. Pictures and CBS Films were developing a feature-length film adaptation of The Stand . In August 2011, director David Yates and screenwriter Steve Kloves , known for their collaboration on the Harry Potter films, were hired to write and direct

3332-480: A novel called Earth Abides , by George R. Stewart. (...) and one day while sitting at my typewriter, (...) I wrote—just to write something: The world comes to an end but everybody in the SLA is somehow immune. Snake bit them. I looked at that for a while and then typed: No more gas shortages. That was sort of cheerful, in a horrible sort of way. The Stand was also planned by King as an epic story akin to The Lord of

3451-402: A preliterate, dark-skinned people. In Danse Macabre , King writes about the origins of The Stand at some length. One source was Patty Hearst 's case. The original idea was to create a novel about the episode because "it seemed that only a novel might really succeed in explaining all the contradictions". The author also mentions George R. Stewart 's novel Earth Abides , which describes

3570-473: A producer and writer, and a new ending written by Stephen King. The miniseries was first broadcast in December 2020, to mixed reviews. Marvel Comics adapted The Stand into a series of six five-issue comic book miniseries. The series was written by Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa and illustrated by Mike Perkins . Colorist Laura Martin , letterer Chris Eliopoulos , and cover artist Lee Bermejo were also on

3689-516: A public execution, one of Flagg's most loyal followers, the Trashcan Man, arrives with a nuclear warhead salvaged from a military base. As Trash is dying of radiation poisoning , the ball of fire Flagg had summoned to kill Whitney the cook descends as a supernatural hand, detonating the warhead and annihilating Flagg, his followers, and the prisoners. An expanded edition of The Stand was published in 1990, restoring text that had been cut from

Randall Flagg - Misplaced Pages Continue

3808-590: A quasi- immortality . After centuries of wreaking havoc, Flagg attracts the attention of the Crimson King, who adopts him as his emissary. In 2012, King published a new story from The Dark Tower entitled The Wind Through the Keyhole . Here Flagg is depicted as the Covenant Man: central villain of the book's story within a story , "The Wind Through the Keyhole", a legend from Mid-World set years before

3927-599: A rival emerging civilization— Mother Abagail 's Free Zone in Boulder, Colorado —to become the dominant society in the former United States . After two of Flagg's followers fail to kill the leaders of the Free Zone, the Boulder community sends a group of men to Las Vegas to stop him. The three who reach the city are taken prisoner, and Flagg orders one of them executed for his defiance. As the other two are being prepared for

4046-457: A secret passage where Thomas could spy on his father. Unbeknownst to Flagg, when he delivers the poison, Thomas is watching through the glass eyes of the mounted head of Roland's greatest trophy, Niner the dragon . Flagg plants evidence incriminating Peter. After a brief trial, during which the judge decides Peter is guilty, he is locked up in the enormous tower called the Needle in the center of

4165-478: A setting date of 1980, in abridged form. The first paperback release in 1980 changed the setting date to 1985. The novel marks the first appearance of Randall Flagg , King's recurring antagonist, whom King would bring back several times in his later writings. In 1990, an unabridged edition of The Stand was published, billed as The Complete and Uncut Edition . Published in hardcover by Doubleday in May 1990, this became

4284-614: A sexual relationship with the female personification of Maerlyn's Grapefruit, one of the spheres. This is described as incestuous , since the beings were given life by Maerlyn, Walter's biological father; Marten and the Grapefruit repeatedly call each other as brother and sister. The siblings also refer to the Crimson King as their "cousin", indicating that Maerlyn is related to him. In her afterword, Furth says that although she conceived these ideas, King approved them. According to

4403-439: Is "somebody who's very charismatic, laughs a lot, [is] tremendously attractive to men and women both, and [is] somebody who just appeals to the worst in all of us". This idea carries over into The Stand , in which Flagg first appears as the personification of evil opposing Mother Abagail , the personification of good. Character Tom Cullen ascribes to Flagg the ability to kill animals and inflict cancer at will, referring to him as

4522-421: Is a separate person from Walter, who is also not known to be Flagg, but Marten and Walter are retconned into one character in the revised version. When Roland was young, Marten had an affair with Roland's mother, Gabrielle, using the affair to provoke Roland to take the gunslinger test early. He hoped Roland would fail so he would be exiled but Roland passed the test. Eventually, Roland catches Walter; they have

4641-423: Is about to kill them when Thomas reveals himself and tells Flagg that he (Thomas) watched Flagg poison Roland. Thomas shoots Flagg in the eye, but Flagg uses magic to disappear and escape. At the end of the novel, Peter is declared to be the rightful king. Thomas, who has become deeply hated in Delain, sets off alongside his butler, Dennis, to find Flagg. They find him and confront him, but the narrator does not reveal

4760-409: Is based on his ability to replace peace with conflict and unity with destruction; although he seeks power, it is merely a resource to achieve a greater level of destruction. Author and journalist Heidi Stringell finds Flagg "an embodiment of pure evil", contending that King sees good and evil as "real forces"; Flagg's embodiment of evil is confirmed by the fact that "he is a killer, a maker of mischief,

4879-462: Is developed as a biological weapon within a secret Department of Defense installation in the Mojave Desert , and is accidentally released. The book's extended edition includes a prologue detailing the development of the virus and the security breach that causes its release. The laboratory staff die, but security guard Charles Campion manages to escape and takes his family out of state. After

Randall Flagg - Misplaced Pages Continue

4998-411: Is easily manipulated by the wizard. Flagg becomes the de facto ruler of Delain, plunging the kingdom into a Dark Age. Years later Thomas confronts Flagg about his father's murder, which he witnessed as a child but suppressed the memory out of fear. Thomas shoots Flagg in the eye with an arrow, and Flagg disappears from the kingdom. Peter is given his rightful throne; Thomas and his butler, Dennis, leave

5117-594: Is identified near the novel's end as leader of an activist group when he prevents Carol Gerber from retrieving an unexploded bomb on a college campus. King never identifies Fiegler as Flagg, but Christopher Golden and Hank Wagner suggest in The Complete Stephen King Universe that there is little doubt Fiegler is Flagg. Golden and Wagner cite evidence such as Fiegler's ability to make himself appear "dim", an ability shared by Flagg in Eyes of

5236-522: Is not mentioned. Furth wrote in the comic's afterword that the idea of Maerlyn being Walter's father came from King. The comic also reveals that Marten had poisoned Roland's infant brother. Furth introduced the idea that the Bends o' the Rainbow , 13 magic spheres created by Maerlyn in the distant past, are sentient beings able to project personifications which can interact with other characters. Marten has

5355-462: Is quite a demonic figure, and as such he is one of the great anti-heroes of contemporary popular fiction" and that "journeying into Walter's mind is a pretty wild experience and at times a little frightening. You have to travel to very dark places." To find Walter's voice, Furth went to John Milton 's Paradise Lost , William Blake 's Proverbs of Hell , the Biblical Song of Solomon and

5474-466: Is seen cycling through the Dallas throngs just before the assassination of John F. Kennedy in the final episode. In 2019, Finnish actor Jasper Pääkkönen was cast as Marten Broadcloak for the pilot of Amazon Prime Video 's television adaptation of The Dark Tower , but Amazon ultimately decided not to pursue the series. In the same year, Swedish actor Alexander Skarsgård was cast as Randall Flagg in

5593-461: Is that he looks like an ordinary man, and his behavior is a mockery of humanity - a terrible insight into the human psyche. King suggests that the thing to fear the most is inside ourselves". Douglas Winter, author of Fear Itself: The Horror Fiction of Stephen King , believes that Flagg epitomizes the Gothic villain—an " atavistic embodiment of evil"—since his appearance is indistinct, malleable and

5712-556: Is that which becomes imbalanced and even prejudiced, the mitigating factor here is that Flagg is not an originator of evil - he is just caught up in its web as another wronged individual seeking justice". McAleer compares Flagg to Satan in Paradise Lost , suggesting that he may be another "fallen angel who has a valid case supporting his devilry". While agreeing that Flagg can be seen "relishing in evil deeds at almost every juncture", he contends that no judgement can be made without

5831-438: Is the same: "I know all the things that you want and I can give them to you and all you have to do is give me your soul ". Critics also note Flagg's penchant for evil. Tony Magistrale , author of Stephen King: The Second Decade, Danse Macabre to The Dark Half sees Flagg as a Shakespearean villain, comparing him to Iago , Edmund and Richard III , contending that Flagg is an antihero . Magistrale believes that Flagg's evil

5950-805: Is via a flashback revealing that Flagg bargained with the succubus Mia; this resulted in the birth of Mordred Deschain , son of both Roland and the Crimson King . In The Dark Tower , Flagg indicates that he is not John Farson, but served under him until the latter's downfall. Flagg reveals his plans to climb the Dark Tower, see the room at the top and become the god of all. Flagg believes that he can only achieve this by killing Mordred and taking his birthmark-stained foot. Although he tries to befriend Mordred and pledge allegiance to him, Mordred telepathically senses Flagg's true motives and eats him, forcing him to rip out his eyes and tongue first. The Dark Tower reveals more of Flagg's background, relating that he

6069-617: The American Dream ... King's 'Walkin' Dude' may not be the Devil, himself, as Mother Abagail says, but he comes pretty damn close..." Initially, artist Mike Perkins said he felt "Flagg needed to be designed less as a man—more as a force of nature. His hair will obscure his features, his face will be almost always in heavy shadow. This is the creature lurking under your bed, in your wardrobe, in your nightmares. Slightly familiar but wholly terrifying." Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa later commented on

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6188-587: The CBS All Access miniseries adaptation of The Stand . Showrunner Taylor Elmore described Skarsgård's Flagg with "[he] is so beautiful, he is absolutely a lion-like God figure. With perfect hair and... and also, there's a softness to Alex's performance that I think is fascinating. Alex just plays it where you feel not only sympathy for this character, but you hopefully understand why it's so easy for people to gravitate toward him. He's just magnetic, he's just absolutely fascinating to watch. He's galvanizing as

6307-491: The American illustrations; it included brand new illustrations by Christian Heinrich, and a 2016 new French version also included brand new illustrations, by Nicolas Duffaut. At the time of publication, it was a deviation from the norm for King, who was best known for his horror fiction . The book is a work of epic fantasy in a quasi-medieval setting, with a clearly established battle between good and evil, and magic playing

6426-611: The Calla , Flagg makes a brief appearance as Walter o'Dim when Father Callahan arrives in Roland's world. Flagg gives Callahan Black Thirteen , a dangerous crystal ball, hoping it will kill Roland on his way to the tower. In this encounter, Flagg is described with "the face of a human weasel", and "the same welling red circle" on his forehead as the Can-toi . His appearance in Song of Susannah

6545-596: The Dark Tower Series: Art, Evil and Intertextuality in the Stephen King Novels , argues that Flagg's situation is the most sympathetic of all of King's characters, and his evil may be retribution: "[I]n suspending any disbelief in the possibility that reprisal is a reaction to rape, the life of Flagg becomes one that looks to strike a balance for the sexual crime committed against him. And although Flagg's possible search for justice and balance

6664-417: The Dark Tower. In flashbacks, the reader learns that Flagg as Walter o'Dim was an emissary for John Farson , one of those responsible for the destruction of Roland's home Gilead. The "Argument", a summary of the series thus far, beginning Wolves of the Calla —the fifth novel in the series—notes that Flagg is known as Broadcloak, Fannin and John Farson, depending on the world in which he lives. In Wolves of

6783-501: The Dragon The Eyes of the Dragon is a fantasy novel by American writer Stephen King , first published as a limited edition slipcased hardcover by Philtrum Press in 1984, illustrated by Kenneth R. Linkhauser. The novel would later be published for the mass market by Viking in 1987, with illustrations by David Palladini . This trade edition was slightly revised for publication. The 1995 French edition did not reproduce

6902-666: The Dragon , his manipulation of Carol Gerber and her activist friends and Flagg's frequent use of aliases, usually with the initials "R.F." Stephen King's novel Gwendy's Button Box , which he co-wrote with Richard Chizmar , features a mysterious man in black named Richard Farris. Farris gives a young girl, Gwendy Peterson, a "button box" which, depending on the buttons or levers that are used, can dispense magical treats or cause death and destruction. Farris reappeared in Gwendy's Magic Feather (written solely by Chizmar) and Gwendy's Final Task (co-written by both King and Chizmar). Chizmar

7021-454: The Rings in a contemporary American setting: For a long time—ten years, at least—I had wanted to write a fantasy epic like The Lord of the Rings , only with an American setting. I just couldn't figure out how to do it. Then . . . after my wife and kids and I moved to Boulder, Colorado, I saw a 60 Minutes segment on CBW (chemical-biological warfare). I never forgot the gruesome footage of

7140-524: The Rings : both collapse when directly confronted. Journalist Alissa Stickler describes Flagg as a "contemporary medievalist interpretation on the themes of evil, magic and the (d)evil figure". She likens Flagg to Merlin , whispering in the ear of Arthur . Stickler notes that Flagg is politically powerful in The Stand and The Eyes of the Dragon ; he uses his power differently in each novel, challenging depictions of evil and witchcraft common in medieval times. She explains that there does not appear to be

7259-706: The Tower – the linchpin of existence – so he can claim it for himself and become a god. The Dark Tower expanded on Flagg's background and motivation, linking his previous appearances. Flagg was portrayed by Jamey Sheridan in a 1994 television miniseries adaptation of The Stand , by Matthew McConaughey in a 2017 The Dark Tower film adaptation , and by Alexander Skarsgård in a 2020-21 television miniseries adaptation of The Stand . He has additionally appeared in adaptations of The Dark Tower and The Stand by Marvel Comics . King initially cited Donald DeFreeze , primary kidnapper of Patty Hearst , as his inspiration for Flagg. Later, he attributed Flagg to an image of

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7378-704: The Zone grow in size, goes into self-imposed exile. During her absence, the Free Zone's leadership committee decides to secretly send three people to Flagg's territory to act as spies. Harold and Nadine, tempted by Flagg through their dreams, stage an attack on the committee with a bomb. The explosion kills several people, including Nick, but most of the committee members avoid the explosion thanks to Mother Abagail's return. Before dying of exhaustion, Mother Abagail reports God's will – Stuart, Glen, Larry and Ralph must go to Las Vegas and destroy Flagg. As Harold and Nadine flee, Flagg causes Harold's motorcycle to crash and he falls over

7497-439: The basis of a movie called Rage , starring George C. Scott , but before it was released, I was deep into The Stand , finally writing my American fantasy epic, set in a plague-decimated USA. Only instead of a hobbit, my hero was a Texan named Stu Redman, and instead of a Dark Lord, my villain was a ruthless drifter and supernatural madman named Randall Flagg . The land of Mordor ('where the shadows lie,' according to Tolkien )

7616-706: The best books of all time by Rolling Stone , Time , the Modern Library , Amazon and the BBC . A television miniseries of the same name based on the novel was broadcast on ABC in 1994. From 2008 to 2012, Marvel Comics published a series of comics written by Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa and illustrated by Mike Perkins . Another miniseries debuted on CBS All Access in December 2020, and finished airing in February 2021. An extremely contagious and lethal strain of influenza , resistant to antibodies and vaccines,

7735-444: The bombing out of dissatisfaction with the heroes' focus on petty politics, and not on the ultimate quest of destroying Flagg. King sardonically observed that the bomb saved the book, and that he only had to kill half of the core cast to do this. According to King, Blue Öyster Cult 's 1976 song " (Don't Fear) The Reaper " also served as a source of inspiration for the novel. The novel was originally published in 1978 in hardcover, with

7854-504: The book, such as "I met the walking dude, religious, with his worn out cowboy boots", and "Hey Trashcan, where you going boy?" The main chorus of the song was "Come on down and meet your maker, come on down and make the stand." In 1987, Anthrax released their third studio album "Among the Living" which is based on the novel. Lyrics which include "I'm the walking dude", are reference to novel antagonist Randall Flagg. The Eyes of

7973-409: The character a "grim intensity". He commented that Sheridan had "leading-man looks" with the hair of a "dissolute heavy metal star", making him "unsettling" even when not wearing makeup that makes him look like a devil . Douglas E. Winter of Fangoria magazine believed that Sheridan might have been a bit young and "zany" for the part, but gave a credible performance; he said that Sheridan attacked

8092-538: The character in a second book, this time comparing him to Norman Mailer . Here, Magistrale states that in The Stand Flagg gives the reader an "illustration of King's jaundiced perspective of modern America" as he presents the consequences of technology—worship and the sacrifice of "moral integrity to the quest for synthetic productivity". Flagg's background as a rape victim and its impact on his character have also been explored. Patrick McAleer, author of Inside

8211-491: The character of Marten Broadcloak-Walter o'Dim. Sorcerer provides an origin for the character that is different from the one King initially wrote, explaining that Walter was the son of the wizard Maerlyn and Selena, Goddess of the Black Moon. Walter was left at the home of a mill owner "to learn the ways of men". At age 13, Walter burns down his adoptive father's mill before running away to find his true father; Walter's rape

8330-407: The city. Thomas is then crowned King, although he is only twelve years old; due to his youth and his fearful inexperience, he allows Flagg enormous amounts of power. At the start of his long stay in the Needle, Peter manages to send a note to the judge who convicted him, Anders Peyna, with the seemingly innocuous requests to have his mother's old dollhouse and napkins with his meals. Peyna is puzzled by

8449-552: The comic, Marten's romantic feelings for Roland's mother trigger jealousy in the Grapefruit who influences Roland to unwittingly kill his mother; in Wizard and Glass , the witch known as Rhea of the Cöos orchestrates Roland's matricide as revenge for his killing of her pet snake. Enraged, Marten imprisons his "sister" in the Grapefruit and vows revenge on Roland for his involvement in his beloved's death. Addressing inconsistencies between

8568-463: The demon Legion , while character Glen Bateman refers to him as the Lovecraftian entity Nyarlathotep , among other ancient names. King wanted Flagg to embody a "gigantic evil", although he intended the character to weaken by the end of The Stand . He said, "I think the Devil is probably a pretty funny guy. Flagg is like the archetype of everything that I know about real evil, going back all

8687-493: The edge of a cliff, severely breaking his leg and being left to die by Nadine. As his leg turns gangrenous , he realizes the harm he has done, writes an apologetic note and commits suicide. Flagg meets Nadine in the desert, raping and impregnating her while revealing his true demonic form, an experience that leaves her semi- catatonic . The Trashcan Man has a psychotic episode and destroys Flagg's air force before Flagg can destroy Boulder. He then leaves Las Vegas to atone by finding

8806-452: The efforts are in vain – the virus, christened by journalists as the "superflu" or "Captain Trips", spreads across the country and travels beyond its borders, triggering a global pandemic of apocalyptic proportions. Approximately 99.4% of the world's population is infected and killed within a month. A prism of several personal tragedies describes the collapse of society, explosions of violence,

8925-465: The end of the world, particularly in prime time." Eventually King allowed screenwriter Rospo Pallenberg , who was a fan of The Stand , to write his own adaptation of the novel. Pallenberg's script was for an approximately three hour film which King felt was true to the novel. After the script was written, Warner Bros. backed out of the project. ABC eventually offered Stephen King the chance to make The Stand into an eight-hour miniseries . King wrote

9044-420: The first book: "The man in black fled across the desert and the gunslinger followed". In this series, Flagg assumes the guise of several individuals. He first appears as Walter o'Dim, chased across the desert by Roland. In flashbacks Flagg assumes the identity of Marten Broadcloak, a wizard who conspires with the Crimson King to cause the fall of the Dark Tower. In the original edition of the first novel Marten

9163-485: The full story and context for his actions. The Stand The Stand is a post-apocalyptic dark fantasy novel written by American author Stephen King and first published in 1978 by Doubleday . The plot centers on a deadly pandemic of weaponized influenza and its aftermath, in which the few surviving humans gather into factions that are each led by a personification of either good or evil and seem fated to clash with each other. King started writing

9282-520: The hope that a treatment can be made. Redman escapes after the center's staff dies, and he is forced to kill one of the members in self-defense. He meets with sociology professor Glen Bateman and his Irish Setter Kojak, pregnant college student Frannie Goldsmith, and teenage outcast Harold Lauder. Larry Underwood, a disillusioned pop singer, joins the group in the wake of his mother's death. Stuart and Frannie are drawn to each other and become lovers, to Harold's disappointment and resentment. The group share

9401-501: The inability of the government and martial law to stop the pandemic, and the near-extinction of humanity. Many survivors of the virus also die, unable to accept the loss of their loved ones or survive in a world where they must fend for themselves. Stuart Redman, one of the people present at the gas station when Campion crashes his car, proves immune to the virus. He is forcibly held in a specialized center in Stovington, Vermont, in

9520-407: The kingdom in search of Flagg. The novel states that Thomas and Dennis find Flagg, but the nature of their encounter is never revealed and Flagg survives to engender chaos in later stories. Flagg makes several appearances in King's Dark Tower series (1982-2012), which follows gunslinger Roland Deschain as he travels in search of the Dark Tower. Flagg's presence is felt in the opening sentence of

9639-429: The ladies' hearts go pitty pat, that looked like the type of guy you would see on the cover of one of those sweet, savage love paperback romances". He eventually persuaded Garris to cast a lesser-known actor as Flagg; Garris ultimately chose Jamey Sheridan for the role. Sheridan's performance was generally well received. Entertainment Weekly ' s Ken Tucker wrote that the best acting came from Sheridan, who gave

9758-537: The like. King Roland's magician, Flagg , seeking to destroy the Kingdom of Delain, sees his plans being ruined by the good heart of Queen Sasha. After Sasha gives birth to Peter, a noble and worthy future king, Flagg realizes that his position, his plans, and his life may be in danger because of Peter. When Sasha is pregnant with a second son, Flagg seizes the opportunity. He forces the Queen's midwife to wound Sasha while

9877-434: The longest book published by King at 1,152 pages. When the novel was originally published in 1978, Doubleday warned King that the book's size would make it too expensive for the market to bear. As a result, he cut about 400 pages (around 150,000 words) from the original manuscript. This edition reinstates most of the deletions (as selected by King) and updates the setting from the 1980s to the 1990s. This new edition features

9996-477: The medieval monster both past and future, which challenges and yet supports the literary Middle Ages. Flagg's character has its detractors. In his essay "The Glass-Eyed Dragon", author L. Sprague de Camp criticizes Flagg in Eyes of the Dragon , saying that he is one of the least-believable characters in the book and too evil to be credible. According to de Camp, absolute evil is hard to envision; whereas Adolf Hitler and Joseph Stalin believed they were improving

10115-563: The novel for his children. Another reason for fan rejection of The Eyes of the Dragon was the fact that it was epic fantasy, with little to no elements of the horror that typified King's most successful work of this era. Negative fan reaction to The Eyes of the Dragon was an inspiration for King's subsequent novel Misery . The protagonist of Misery was a successful romance novelist who killed off his most popular character to allow himself to write in other styles of fiction, only to be imprisoned by an angry, deranged fan; King saw Misery as

10234-451: The novel's setting 10 years forward from 1980 to 1990, and accordingly corrected a number of cultural references. The Complete and Uncut Edition of The Stand is Stephen King's longest stand-alone work at 1,152 pages, surpassing It , a novel of 1,138 pages. The book became a #1 bestseller and sold 4.5 million copies. The Stand was highly acclaimed by critics and is considered one of King's best novels. It has been included in lists of

10353-466: The novels and the comics, Furth stated that the comics exist on another level of the Tower: "a spinoff world, one which is very similar to, but not exactly the same as the one where [the Dark Tower novels] take place". On the character of Marten, Furth noted that "[he] is one of the scariest characters that Stephen King has ever created. He moves from book to book, bringing chaos and anarchy with him... He

10472-468: The odyssey of one of the last human survivors after the population is nearly annihilated by a plague, as one of the main inspirations: With my Patty Hearst book, I never found the right way in... and during that entire six-week period, something else was nagging very quietly at the back of my mind. It was a news story I had read about an accidental CBW spill in Utah. (...) This article called up memories of

10591-464: The original edition. It includes an epilogue in which Flagg appears on a beach and finds a primitive tribe ready to fall under his influence. Flagg later appears in The Eyes of the Dragon , published in 1984 as an evil wizard wreaking havoc in the medieval country of Delain. He is described as a "thin and stern-faced man of about 50 [years of age]", despite being much older. He hides himself under

10710-555: The original idea of hiding Flagg's face: "...the further into the book and the adaptation you go, the less feasible that becomes. Stephen spends so much time describing [Flagg]'s features and smiles, you need to show those things." King initially named Donald DeFreeze , lead kidnapper in the Patty Hearst case, as his inspiration for Randall Flagg. According to King, he remembered the Patty Hearst case when he began to write

10829-419: The outcome. The Eyes of the Dragon was warmly received by professional critics. Barbara Tritel of The New York Times described The Eyes of the Dragon as drawing clear influence from European fairy tales and wrote that the novel was "more elegant than any other novel Mr. King has written so far." Some of King's established fans rejected the novel, considering it a children's book – King originally wrote

10948-404: The part. Director Mick Garris and the studios wanted to give the role to an established star such as Christopher Walken , James Woods , Willem Dafoe or Jeff Goldblum . King himself had suggested Robert Duvall in his introduction to the novel. Miguel Ferrer , who played Flagg's henchman in the film, was interested in playing the villain. King's idea for the role was someone who "would make

11067-401: The plague will fall among them", King began writing The Stand and developing the character of Randall Flagg. In 2004, King said that Flagg had been a presence in his writing since the beginning of his career, with the idea coming to him in college. He first wrote a poem, " The Dark Man ", about a man who rides the rails and confesses to murder and rape ; written on the back of a placemat in

11186-411: The project. In the 1995 Complete and Uncut edition of the book, King admitted he had in mind a few fan castings for his characters, those being Robert Duvall as Randall Flagg and Marshall Crenshaw as Larry Underwood. Writing a workable screenplay proved difficult, due to the novel's length. King talked about adapting it for television, but was informed that the television networks did not "want to see

11305-410: The remaining three are soon taken prisoner by Flagg's army. When Glen refuses to grovel before Flagg, he is killed by Lloyd. Flagg gathers his entire collective to witness the execution of Ralph and Larry. Moments before they are to be killed, the Trashcan Man arrives with a retrieved nuclear warhead . Flagg conjures a magical ball of energy in an attempt to silence a dissenter, but it is transformed into

11424-403: The requests, but, seeing no harm in them, grants them. Five years later, Peter escapes from the Needle, having used the toy loom in the dollhouse and threads from the napkins to make a rope. After the escape he and his allies rush to get Roland's bow and arrow. However, it is not to be found because Thomas had it once they got into the king's "sitting room". Flagg, now revealed as a demonic being,

11543-405: The role "with the swagger of Elvis , the sway of David Koresh and as much craziness as your heart desires (and network TV allows)". In February 2011, Warner Bros. announced plans to produce a new feature film adaptation of The Stand . King commented that he would like to see Dutch actor Rutger Hauer in the role of Flagg, but conceded that he was perhaps too old for the part. In August 2014, it

11662-508: The role of Stu Redman. By September 10, 2014, the script had been completed and pre-production was underway. In November, Boone planned to split his adaptation into four full-length feature films in an effort to remain true to the breadth of King's sprawling novel. In June 2015, Warner Bros. proposed an eight-part Showtime miniseries to set up the story, which would culminate in Josh Boone's film. In February 2016, The Stand project

11781-463: The roles of Randall Flagg, Stu Redman, Nadine Cross, Mother Abagail, Glen Bateman, Frannie Goldsmith, and Nick Andros, respectively. The production was filmed in and near Vancouver, British Columbia , Canada, from September 2019 to March 2020; filming was completed a few days before it would have been shut down due to the COVID-19 pandemic . The production features Stephen King's son Owen King as

11900-503: The second son, Thomas, is born. Sasha bleeds to death and Flagg begins plotting to remove Peter. As Peter becomes a teenager, he begins the custom of bringing a glass of wine to his father before bed each night. Flagg decides to use this as a means of framing Peter. He dissolves a poison called Dragon Sand in a glass of wine and delivers it to the king after Peter leaves. Previously, in an attempt to win Thomas' friendship, Flagg had shown him

12019-663: The series' beginning. He is the Barony's "tax collector" from Gilead, attempting to collect taxes from residents of the small town of Tree. The Covenant Man sends the story's protagonist, a young boy named Tim, on a perilous quest through the Endless Forest to save his mother; unbeknownst to Tim, the Covenant Man is supplying him with false prophecies and misinformation as part of a cruel practical joke. However, Tim succeeds in his journey; he saves his mother after encountering

12138-452: The series' third installment, The Waste Lands . In the city of Lud , Flagg saves Tick-Tock Man Andrew Quick , an enemy of Roland's ka-tet left for dead in an earlier confrontation. Quick becomes Flagg's devoted servant, and Flagg assumes the name of Richard Fannin. The character returns in the fourth book, Wizard and Glass , as Marten Broadcloak. Also identifying himself as Flagg, he warns Roland and his ka-tet to abandon their quest for

12257-502: The staff. The first issue of The Stand: Captain Trips was released on September 10, 2008. Metallica derived the title for their second album " Ride the Lightning " from a quote in The Stand . in which a character uses the phrase to refer to execution by electric chair. The Alarm had a song on the 1984 album Declaration entitled "The Stand (Prophecy)" as an homage to the book. The song contained lyrics directly related to

12376-408: The story in February 1975, seeking to create an epic in the spirit of The Lord of the Rings . The book was difficult for him to write because of the large number of characters and storylines. In 1990, The Stand was reprinted as The Complete & Uncut Edition . King restored over 400 pages of text that had been removed from his original manuscript , revised the order of the chapters, shifted

12495-399: The test mice shuddering, convulsing, and dying, all in twenty seconds or less. That got me remembering a chemical spill in Utah, that killed a bunch of sheep (these were canisters on their way to some burial ground; they fell off the truck and ruptured). I remembered a news reporter saying, 'If the winds had been blowing the other way, there was Salt Lake City .' This incident later served as

12614-469: The way to Charles Starkweather in the '50s—he is somebody who is empty and who has to be filled with other people's hates, fears, resentments, laughs. Flagg, Koresh , Jim Jones , Hitler —they're all basically the same guy". Although Flagg does not explicitly represent Satan , this does not detract from what King sees as his ultimate goal. He notes that no matter who sees him or how he is seen as Flagg appears differently to different individuals, his message

12733-506: The wizard Maerlyn, who has been imprisoned in the form of a "tyger". While the Covenant Man is not explicitly identified as Flagg, with only the initials "RF/MB" in his signature as identification and at one point being referred to as 'the man in the black cloak', Stephen King confirmed in an interview with Bev Vincent for his book The Dark Tower Companion that the two are one and the same. In Hearts in Atlantis (1999), Raymond Fiegler

12852-403: The world, Flagg only enjoys causing destruction and chaos. De Camp notes that Flagg fails to see that there is no advantage to his actions. Walter's eyes widen, and for a moment he looks deeply hurt. This may be absurd, but Callahan is looking into the man's deep eyes and feels sure that the emotion is nonetheless genuine. And the surety robs him of any last hope that all this might be a dream, or

12971-490: The world. He sees it with a sort of delight, even though he is obviously on the wrong side of the light-and-dark spectrum. He's someone I've been having a lot of fun with." McConaughey described Walter as " the Devil having a good time, getting turned on by exposing human hypocrisies wherever he finds them". The 2016 miniseries 11.22.63 , based on King's 2011 novel 11/22/63 , incorporates numerous references to other King stories, including an appearance by Randall Flagg, who

13090-407: The writings of Aleister Crowley for inspiration. In his interview with Bev Vincent, Isanove opined that Walter was his favorite character to draw; " Jae [Lee, the original artist for the series] established him as almost androgynous. He's always got this bare chest, and he's very feminine in the way he moves, with his hands raised. He's always moving his hands around. He's got this weird face, with

13209-421: Was asked whether or not Richard Farris's initials signified that he was another manifestation of Randall Flagg; his response was "Maayyybee... He's definitely mysterious, and it's really obvious there's more to him than meets the eye." Chizmar later revealed during a Reddit AMA session that the initials were indeed indicative of Farris being Flagg. In 2022, King stated while the character started off as Flagg that

13328-646: Was born Walter Padick in Delain to Sam the Miller of Eastar'd Barony. At age 13, Walter set out for a life on the road, but was raped by a fellow wanderer; author Bev Vincent hypothesized in The Road to the Dark Tower that Flagg's later actions toward Delain in The Eyes of the Dragon may have been revenge for the abuse he suffered as a child. Resisting the temptation to crawl back home, Padick instead moves toward his destiny; he learns various forms of magic, achieving

13447-456: Was developing several projects for potential television adaptations, one of which was The Eyes of the Dragon . If successfully developed, the book would be made into either a movie or miniseries. Michael Taylor and Jeff Vintar were confirmed to be penning the script and Taylor and Bill Haber would act as executive producers. In 2019 news broke that Hulu was adapting the book as a television series. In September 2020, Seth Grahame-Smith ,

13566-456: Was no longer the case: "I saw him as a force of evil when I first started to write about the box. By the time I realized he was a force of the White, it was too late to change the initials." King was influential in deciding who would play Flagg in the 1994 television adaptation of The Stand . He felt Flagg was the best villain he had ever created, and wanted the actor playing him to be right for

13685-559: Was nominated for the World Fantasy Award for Best Novel in 1979, and was adapted into both a television miniseries for ABC and a graphic novel published by Marvel Comics . In 2003, the novel was listed at number 53 on the BBC 's The Big Read poll. A film adaptation of The Stand was in development hell for over 10 years. During the 1980s, Stephen King had planned a theatrical film, with George A. Romero directing and himself writing, not trusting anybody else with

13804-534: Was played by Las Vegas. While writing The Stand , King nearly stopped because of writer's block . Eventually, he reached the conclusion that the heroes were becoming too complacent, and were beginning to repeat all the same mistakes of their old society. In an attempt to resolve this, he added the part of the storyline where Harold and Nadine construct a bomb, which explodes in a Free Zone committee meeting, killing Nick Andros, Chad Norris, and Susan Stern. Later, Mother Abagail explains on her deathbed that God permitted

13923-421: Was put on hold and the rights reverted to CBS Films. In September 2017, King talked of doing an extended TV series on Showtime or CBS All Access . In January 2019, a 10-hour limited series was ordered by CBS Television Studios to be broadcast on CBS All Access. Alexander Skarsgard , James Marsden , Amber Heard , Whoopi Goldberg , Greg Kinnear , Odessa Young , and Henry Zaga were all in consideration for

14042-437: Was reported that Warner Bros. wanted actor Matthew McConaughey for the role. McConaughey was confirmed to be playing Walter, Flagg's alter-ego, in the film adaptation of The Dark Tower in 2016. Nikolaj Arcel , the film's director and co-writer, said, "Matthew is an incredible actor who can do anything. That's how I feel about [Walter]. He could do anything." Arcel described Walter as having "a very interesting way of seeing

14161-572: Was 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. — Stephen King, The Stand Randall Flagg makes his first named appearance in King's 1978 apocalyptic novel The Stand , where he tries to construct

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