Who is Stephen King’s Randall Flagg? All appearances and actors who have played him

You don’t become the master of horror without writing some deranged characters, and Stephen King has been doing it since the ‘70s. His books have birthed a wide range of screen adaptations, and in turn, villains that are ready to plague your nightmares. Everyone remembers the more popular characters like Pennywise the Clown or Jack Torrance, but one iconic character breezes right past them in terms of true villainy. 

Randall Flagg is terrifying because of how often he recurs in King’s work. Unlike the outwardly-insidious characters in books and television, Flagg appears first and foremost as a man dressed simply in cowboy boots and jeans — but ultimately, he’s the closest character King has to the devil. Flagg has no soul, is interested in only corruption at best, and at worst, in ending the world. His crimes in fiction are many, and true to his book persona, every time you see him appear in a King adaptation, he is wildly different from the last. Let’s take a look at some of Flagg’s guises through his various screen adaptation appearances.

1. Jamey Sheridan – The Stand

Randall Flagg’s first official onscreen appearance and arguably most notable was in 1994’s The Stand. The miniseries is inspired by one of King’s most well-known bestsellers, and features Flagg at his worst. As in the novel, the television adaptation shows an ultimate battle between good and evil. After an aggressive plague effectively ends the world, Flagg takes advantage and lures lost souls to the path of destruction. Setting his home base in Las Vegas, Flagg uses methods like crucifixion and other means of torture to show just how vile he is, in hopes of cementing his rule over the wasteland. 

Jamey Sheridan portrays Randall Flagg admirably close to the source material; he sports the denim outfit Flagg is described wearing in the book, leaning into the terrifying outrageousness of the character. When he isn’t dropping puns, he can be seen with a demonic face complete with horns. The mini-series culminates in a nuclear explosion meant to finally end the conflict between good and evil — and Flagg —for good. Though in the book, Flagg is not so easily destroyed, this is an ending fitting for the decade it premiered in. The Stand is available for purchase on Blu-ray and DVD.

2. Matthew McConaughey – The Dark Tower

The Stand may be the most iconic representation of Randall Flagg, but nothing quite encapsulates his character like The Dark Tower series. Unfortunately for King’s most ambitious and beloved series, The Dark Tower adaptation had a real problem and failed at the box office. But that isn’t necessarily the fault of Matthew McConaughey, who portrays this version of Randall Flagg — or, as he is sometimes referred to, The Man in Black. Like Sheridan’s portrayal, McConaughey uses humor to heighten his character’s maniacal desire to end the world. 

In The Dark Tower, The Man in Black’s goal is to destroy the titular Tower. Though not fully explored in the film adaptation, the Tower is a mystical structure that holds worlds together. The 2017 film puts a finer point on the evil character, as Roland (Idris Elba) states that Flagg is worse than the devil. McConaughey’s version also shows a more honest picture of Flagg; not just a devilish figure, he is a sorcerer who also goes by the name of Walter Padick. Once again, the adaptation culminates with the death of Flagg, putting a tidy bow on a character who has a much more complex story in the books. But as Flagg representations go, McConaughey chews the scenery in a film that is available to rent or purchase.

3. Alexander Skarsgård – The Stand (CBS)

Randall Flagg returns in The Stand, this time a limited series for CBS. While the 1994 version was a fairly linear depiction of events, the CBS depiction is far more ambitious. Following the same conflict in the classic good versus evil tale, Flagg is portrayed by accomplished actor, Alexander Skarsgård. Known for playing a vengeful Viking in The Northman, the actor’s portrayal of Flagg is a colder and more reserved version. The CBS series dispenses with the more cheesy appearances of the character in the ‘90s mini-series, instead going for a more seductive visage. It is easier to see why half the world would side with someone so evil, specifically because of the ways that he tricks people into joining his side.

Skasgård’s version of the character also succeeds where others have not. Instead of killing his character in the climactic conclusion, The Stand shows him in a more book-accurate connotation; after raising an army of evil-doers, Flagg escapes a nuclear blast and eventually starts ruling a fictional Indigenous culture as a god. This ending gets to the heart of what Flagg is all about. He uses sorcery to get what he wants, and is not so easily killed. Skarsgard was an inspired casting decision in the series currently streaming on Paramount Plus.