I agree so hard that creating complex, compelling and likable characters is what King absolutely excels at as a writer, and it's where so many adaptations of his books stumble at the very first hurdle, if his characters aren't adapted as faithfully as possible then the adaptation as a whole is never going to work, period. That's where I think IT (the 2017 film, not the mini-series) really succeeded and why audiences took to it in a big way, it may not have been a completely faithful adaptation of the child half of the book but it captured the essence of King's original characters and their kinship really well (okay, except poor Mike admittedly, which is my biggest complaint with the film). All I want is to see these characters from TDT that I love so much (especially Roland and Walter/The Man in Black who are two of my favourite literary characters of all time) adapted faithfully and with respect to what complex, enigmatic, fascinating creatures they really are.
It's interesting because a similar thing could be said about Roland in TDT, but in reverse. Roland isn't your typical fantasy hero figure by any stretch, especially early on in the book series where he's very much an anti-hero. In the first book he does some particularly despicable things to keep following the Man in Black (including letting Jake, his child companion, fall to his death rather than try to save him and in therefore lose track of Walter in the process), but through some particularly wonderful and moving character development by the end of the series he transforms into much more of a traditional, selfless hero figure. That's why, in a way, starting from Roland's boyhood in this series makes a great deal of sense. Starting from the events of The Gunslinger (the first book in the series) runs the risk of the general audience not taking to the very anti-heroic Roland at all, but starting the series from Roland's childhood means that the audience can witness first hand the sheer amount of drama, loss and grief that Roland has had to suffer through in his life because of his bloodline and his status as the last gunslinger, and therefore they will feel much more sympathetic and understanding towards him if the series ever does jump forward to older Roland and adapts the main timeline of the books.
And we all say thankya big-big (for fans of the book series)... Don't get me wrong, I love Elba, he's one of my favourite actors and he's extremely underrated (and he indeed looks good in tight leather), but he just isn't Roland Deschain. At all. The character in the film didn't resemble the character in the books in any way, and I'm not even talking about race or physical appearance, he just wasn't Roland. The film Roland railed against being a gunslinger and wasn't even trying to find and enter the Dark Tower. I mean... what?
It's like the writers thought, 'Oh hey, let's take away two of the most vital character traits of this guy, strip him of all his depth and purpose and re-write him completely into someone that in no way resembles the book character, that'd be cool, right?'
I agree so hard that creating complex, compelling and likable characters is what King absolutely excels at as a writer, and it's where so many adaptations of his books stumble at the very first hurdle, if his characters aren't adapted as faithfully as possible then the adaptation as a whole is never going to work, period. That's where I think IT (the 2017 film, not the mini-series) really succeeded and why audiences took to it in a big way, it may not have been a completely faithful adaptation of the child half of the book but it captured the essence of King's original characters and their kinship really well (okay, except poor Mike admittedly, which is my biggest complaint with the film). All I want is to see these characters from TDT that I love so much (especially Roland and Walter/The Man in Black who are two of my favourite literary characters of all time) adapted faithfully and with respect to what complex, enigmatic, fascinating creatures they really are.
It's interesting because a similar thing could be said about Roland in TDT, but in reverse. Roland isn't your typical fantasy hero figure by any stretch, especially early on in the book series where he's very much an anti-hero. In the first book he does some particularly despicable things to keep following the Man in Black (including letting Jake, his child companion, fall to his death rather than try to save him and in therefore lose track of Walter in the process), but through some particularly wonderful and moving character development by the end of the series he transforms into much more of a traditional, selfless hero figure. That's why, in a way, starting from Roland's boyhood in this series makes a great deal of sense. Starting from the events of The Gunslinger (the first book in the series) runs the risk of the general audience not taking to the very anti-heroic Roland at all, but starting the series from Roland's childhood means that the audience can witness first hand the sheer amount of drama, loss and grief that Roland has had to suffer through in his life because of his bloodline and his status as the last gunslinger, and therefore they will feel much more sympathetic and understanding towards him if the series ever does jump forward to older Roland and adapts the main timeline of the books.
And we all say thankya big-big (for fans of the book series
Bronn Is Moving To Gilead
Posted: April 22, 2019, 10:47:35
Section: TV » The Dark Tower
Game of Thrones is coming to an end and now comes the news that Jerome Flynn who plays Bronn is moving to Gilead. In an interview with Morror Flynn reveals that he will have a part in Amazon’s adaptation of The Dark Tower. It’s not stated who he will play though.
He says: “Game of Thrones has opened doors to some great stuff. I’m getting offered stuff I never would have.”
And his next part is another fantasy – one of his own. He will play a cowboy in the dramatisation of Stephen King’s seven-book Dark Tower series.
Jerome says: “I’ve always said I’d like to play a cowboy – and now one has come along. I’m excited for that.”
Copied from Lilja's Library: Lilja's Library - The World of Stephen King [1996 - 2019]
Flynn is really good in GoT, Bronn is one of my favourite characters in the show. He'd actually make a pretty good older Roland himself, but I'm guessing that's not who he's been cast as seeing as the show (at first at least) will be based around young Roland. Maybe he'll be playing Roland's father, Steven Deschain? Or Eldred Jonas! Flynn as Eldred Jonas would be some sweet casting.
And awesome news that a) we have scripts for the first few episodes (which signifies that Glen Mazzara and co must be very confident that Amazon are going to order the show to full series) and b) they're really well written. Do we dare to hope? 
