Roland Deschain (The Mist, The Dark Tower)
As the hero of The Dark Tower book series, Roland Deschain is an enduring literary symbol of the struggle between good and evil. He’s descended from both a long line of Gunslingers (peacekeepers), while also being of relation to the Crimson King (the embodiment of evil) – so for this character, the conflict is baked right in. As he undertakes to save the universe from the dastardly plans of Crimson King ally The Man In Black, he encounters many challenges and obstacles along the way.
But, when Idris Elba takes to the big screen as Roland Deschain on August 18th, it will not be the first time we’ve seen this character’s visage in cinema. In the 2007 adaptation of The Mist – directed by Frank Darabont – the lead character of David Drayton (played by Thomas Jane) is seen to be painting a film poster of the iconic Gunslinger, which also features a background of a trans-dimensional doorway.
The reason this is significant in terms of connections across multiple works is because the events of The Mist are caused by a military experiment known as the Arrowhead Project – revealed to be an attempt to look into other dimensions. This experiment causes a “thinny,” which results in a tear in reality localized, in the case of The Mist, to Bridgton in Maine. Creatures from other dimensions begin to enter the town through the tear, and cause death, destruction and religious fervour.
Since the idea of other dimensions is largely the basis for The Dark Tower, the visual reference to Roland Deschain is entirely on point – but it’s the fact that, in the source material, it’s suggested that the Arrowhead Project might be funded by the mysterious organization known as The Shop that’s important to note here.
The Shop appears repeatedly throughout the works of Stephen King, and is a reference to a shadowy government section known as the U.S Department Of Scientific Intelligence. It essentially allows for extensive conspiracy theories around unexplained phenomena, and is seen in stories ranging from Firestarter to The Lawnmower Man to The Mist and beyond. Its inclusion in so many of King’s stories, while remaining vague, effectively ties together the grounded, Earth-bound reality of the average reader or viewer, and the more fantastical idea of trans-dimensional Gunslingers, like Roland Deschain.