Stephen King's epic is finally returning to the screen as a ten-episode miniseries from
a visionary director and featuring an all-star cast — not to mention a new ending conceived
by King himself. Here's everything we know.
The Stand is a massive, sprawling narrative that covers the length and breadth of America,
taking readers from New York City to Maine and from Nebraska to Las Vegas. In the midst
of all that, King creates a massive ensemble of good people, bad people, and those who
lie in between.
The earliest casting news for the series revealed stars including James Marsden as Stu Redman,
Amber Heard as Nadine Cross, Odessa Young as Fran Goldsmith, and Henry Zaga as Nick
Andros, all four of them major players in the struggle that makes up the book's core.
Later casting announcements throughout the fall of 2019 revealed that Nat Wolff joined
the series as the villainous Lloyd Henreid, while Jovan Adepo will play rock star Larry
Underwood, Brad William Henke will play Tom Cullen, and Greg Kinnear will play Glen Bateman.
Two more key names, Marilyn Manson and The Flash star Ezra Miller, have also joined the
series in still-mysterious roles.
Of course, arguably the most important casting decisions in the series arrived when the production
had to select the major players on either side of King's good vs. evil struggle, the
benevolent Mother Abigail and the sinister Randall Flagg. Ultimately, those roles went
to the legendary Whoopi Goldberg and the always-compelling Alexander Skarsgård, respectively, setting
the stage for a battle for the ages.
"You must make your stand."
The Stand was originally published in 1978, and later expanded into an "uncut" edition
that introduced several hundred pages of previously deleted material in 1990. It is one of King's
most ambitious novels, both in size and in scope, and it all begins with the accidental
release of a deadly superflu.
The first part of the novel chronicles the spread of this plague, dubbed "Captain Trips,"
as it kills nearly everyone in the United States and beyond, creating a wasteland. The
few remaining people who prove immune to the virus feel themselves drawn to two polarized
supernatural forces. One is a kindly old woman in Nebraska named Mother Abigail, and the
other is a denim-clad demon in human form named Randall Flagg.
Ultimately, all of the remaining survivors are compelled to choose a side in the coming
war, as Mother Abigail's followers settle into the "Free Zone" of Boulder, Colorado,
and Randall Flagg takes over the Mecca of sin that is Las Vegas. Before it's all over,
the remaining representatives of humanity will have to stand together against the darkness,
with the fate of the world at stake.
Work on some form of adaptation for The Stand dates back to the late 1970s, shortly after
the novel was published. In the documentary Just Desserts: The Making of Creepshow, writer/director
George A. Romero recalled that, after he and King began discussing working together on
a project for the first time, they grew very interested in adapting The Stand as a motion
picture. Instead, the pair of horror masters turned their attention to the more achievable
Creepshow anthology film, and The Stand's journey to the big screen was never fully
realized as the project ultimately lapsed into development hell. Fortunately, King's
projects have a way of coming back to life.
"Where's my cake, dear."
In 1994, more than 15 years after it was published, The Stand finally made it to the screen as
a massive, six-hour miniseries on ABC. King adapted the miniseries from his novel, with
director Mick Garris at the helm. King and Garris had already worked together on Sleepwalkers,
and would again on Riding the Bullet and the miniseries versions of The Shining and Bag
of Bones. The miniseries sported a massive, star-studded cast and was a ratings smash
for ABC, earning viewers in 19 million homes on each night of its broadcast. It ultimately
won two Primetime Emmy Awards.
"M-O-O-N, that spells moon."
Because The Stand is such a massive story following so many different characters, it's
also a book that leaves a fair number of loose ends present for the reader to contemplate.
Yes, there is a major confrontation near the end of the novel, and it does resolve in a
definite way, but King left plenty of doors open in the saga — if not to continue it
then at least to let his readers decide certain things for themselves. Now, we're getting
more of the story.
In August of 2019 CBS All Access revealed, and King confirmed, that the final episode
of the new miniseries will be a new "coda" to the original novel that will explore more
of what happened to the major characters after the novel's climax. While we still don't know
exactly what this coda will consist of — and it will likely be kept under wraps until it
airs — Stephen King confirms he's had some version of this new ending in his head for
three decades, and he's looking forward to finally showing it to the world.
After years in development, The Stand finally entered production in September of 2019. The
series is masterminded by Josh Boone, best known for films like The Fault in Our Stars
and the still-unreleased, seemingly cursed New Mutants. Boone, a lifelong King fan who
read the author's work in spite of his strict parents, will direct the series, which he
also co-wrote with Ben Cavell. King himself has endorsed this adaptation, and personally
scripted the final episode as a new ending for the overall saga. King's son, novelist
Owen King, will also serve as a producer on the series. King said:
"I'm excited and so very pleased that The Stand is going to have a new life on this
exciting new platform. The people involved are men and women who know exactly what they're
doing; the scripts are dynamite. The result bids to be something memorable and thrilling.
I believe it will take viewers away to a world they hope will never happen."
Viewers will get to fall into that world soon enough. The series premieres on December 17,
and airs weekly.
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