Many of Stephen King’s books connect with The Dark Tower series, but few are as connected as The StandRoland Deschain’s journey to the Dark Tower spans multiple universes and features familiar characters from many of King’s other stories, including Father Donald Callahan from The Salem Lot and Ted Brautigan of Hearts in Atlantis. The Dark Tower The series is the axis that connects all these stories and the multiverse of King’s works.
Mike Flanagan’s next work The Dark Tower The adaptation will see King’s ambitious series translated into the format of a streaming show. While the 2017 film adaptation starring Idris Elba was a more standalone take on the story, Flanagan’s series is expected to be a more faithful adaptation that fully embraces the connections to King’s other works. This includes the connections to The Standwhich are a vital part of The Dark TowerWorld building and its themes.
Related How to Read Stephen King’s The Dark Tower Books and Stories in Order (Chronologically and by Publication Date)
The Dark Tower universe is vast and expansive, and it can be helpful to know how to read the books and what order to read them in before you dive in.
6
7 Randall Flagg/The Man in Black is a major villain in The Stand and The Dark Tower
He has many names
Randall Flagg is not the only main antagonist in The Standbut he is also a prominent villain in The Dark Tower series. In the first The Dark Tower book, The gunslingerHe is first mentioned as the man in black in the book’s iconic opening line, “The man in black fled across the desert, and the gunman followed him.” The villain Flagg assumes many personalities and uses many names throughout the film. The Dark Tower series, including Walter O’Dim, Marten Broadcloak and Covenant Man.
Flagg’s evil can also be seen in another of King’s novels, The eyes of the dragonThroughout these stories, Flagg manipulates and corrupts others, using his abilities to spread evil and increase his own power. The Standleads a significant faction of humanity down a dark path after they survive the super flu epidemic, while in The Dark Tower, he is a constant obstacle during Roland’s quest and seeks the power of the Dark Tower for himself.
6 Flagg is an agent of the Crimson King of the Dark Tower
Flagg is part of a greater evil
Flagg is a formidable villain in his own right, but The Dark Tower The series makes it clear that he is one of many agents working for the Crimson King. The Crimson King is essentially an embodiment of evil, not just in The Dark Tower series, but also in King’s novels Insomnia and Black houseSince the Dark Tower unites all universes, the Crimson King wants to destroy the Dark Tower and reshape the universe in his own twisted way.
Patrick Danville, a character from
Insomnia
is essential to defeating the Crimson King.
Since Roland and his ka-tet are on a quest to reach and save the Dark Tower, much of Flagg’s story revolves around preventing them from achieving their goal. The StandThere is no mention of the Crimson King, but Flagg still serves the Crimson King through the ruthless society of flu survivors he builds around himself in Las Vegas. This is in direct opposition to the hopeful civilization of the Boulder Free Zone in Boulder, Colorado.
5 The Stand universe is part of The Dark Tower multiverse
The Dark Tower The series is a way of uniting all of King’s works into a single multiverse. The Dark Tower holds together the entire multiverse and its many worlds, which are also referred to as levels. This means that The StandThe universe of , where the superflu epidemic and the conflict between the survivors take place, is part of the same multiverse that includes Mid-World, where Roland comes from, and where much of The Dark Tower The series takes place.
The concept of the multiverse explains how Flagg can exist in Mid-World in addition to existing in The StandThe universe of ‘s. Such a premise also raises the stakes for The Dark Tower series, as not only will Mid-World be affected if the Dark Tower falls, but the world of The Stand and all of King’s other stories will be destroyed as well. It’s a clever way to connect the various genres, settings, and narratives throughout King’s extensive career.
4 The Stand’s superflu was also an epidemic in Topeka, the city of The Dark Tower
Captain Trips is deadly
Roland, Jake Chambers, Eddie Dean, Susannah and Oy travel through The Dark TowerThe citizens of Topeka encounter the Infectious Mononucleosis after their terrifying experience with Blaine the Monkey. While in Topeka, they learn that the town’s population has been wiped out by an epidemic, referred to as Captain Trips in a newspaper that Roland and his group find. Captain Trips is a nickname given to the superflu that killed most of the human population in The Stand.
This makes Captain Trips a literal and thematic connection between
The Stand
and
The Dark Tower
.
Since Mid-World is a post-apocalyptic wasteland, the post-epidemic nature of The StandThe universe of is common in some of King’s best-known stories. The reasons for the decline of Mid-World and the decline of The StandThe universes of are different, but both scenarios leave survivors struggling to recover, some embracing evil and anarchy, while others aspire to be better and rebuild a peaceful and harmonious civilization. This makes Captain Trips a literal and thematic connection between The Stand and The Dark Tower.
3 There is a graffiti of Mother Abagail in Topeka
She is a powerful symbol
Topeka has more than one connection to The Standwhere Roland and his traveling companions come across graffiti of Mother Abagail Freemantle. While some survivors of the superflu epidemic are drawn to Flagg, others are drawn to the elderly Mother Abagail. She and the survivors drawn to her build a new society in Boulder, Colorado, known as the Boulder Free Zone, where they rebuild civilization overseen by the Boulder Free Zone Committee, whose members are chosen through a democratic election.
Mother Abagail is a deeply loyal and resilient individual who acts as a positive symbol, countering Flagg’s sinister and corrupting nature. Part of her power stems from her ability to have visions of God, which helps her guide survivors who have not been lost and have joined Flagg. The lasting impact of Mother Abagail’s symbolic and literal power extends to The Dark Towerwhere Roland and the rest of his group see her represented despite never having met her.
The ending of The Stand 2 Flagg is similar to the ending of Roland’s The Dark Tower
Time is a wheel
The expanded edition of The Stand The book includes an epilogue in which Flagg is reborn on a beach and encounters a group of individuals he considers primitive. He introduces himself as Russell Faraday, still using the initials RF, and begins to take control of the primitive group. The epilogue ends with Flagg reflecting on how life is a wheel that is constantly in motion, but always ends up going around in circles and ending up in the same place it started.
The expanded edition of
The Stand
It was published in 1990, while the original version was published in 1978.
This parallels Roland’s ending in The Dark Tower When he finally enters the Dark Tower and climbs to the top, he realizes that he has already reached it several times before and then returns to the beginning of his journey. Both Flagg and Roland are stuck in loops where, despite some changes, they end up in the same position repeatedly. The key difference is that Flagg seems to be fully aware of this at the end of The Standwhile Roland only briefly realizes this before his memories are taken away again.
1 Both stories feature Ka-Tets
“One made of many”
In The Dark Tower In the series, the group of close companions that Roland travels with is known as ka-tet. Ka-tet translates as “One made of many”, indicating the group’s closeness and that they have been brought together by higher powers. Jake, Eddie, Susannah, and Oy serve as Roland’s ka-tet for most of the series, acting as a found family as they work together to reach and save the Dark Tower from the forces that threaten it.
The phrase “ka-tet” It is not used directly in The Standbut it works perfectly for the group of survivors Mother Abagail sends to Las Vegas to stop Flagg. This group includes Boulder Free Zone survivors Stu Redman, Glen Bateman, Larry Underwood, and Ralph Brentner. The Stand and The Dark TowerThe relationships between the various members of the ka-tets and their epic journeys are at the heart of the stories and their overarching themes.
The Dark Tower 1
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Idris Elba, Tom Taylor, Claudia Kim, and Matthew McConaughey star in The Dark Tower, a sci-fi Western-style film directed by Nikolaj Arcel. Released in 2017, The Dark Tower follows a boy with visions of an apocalyptic future in which a powerful man, dubbed The Man in Black, ravages the universe. The film is based on the book series by Stephen King.
Director Nikolaj Arcel Release date August 4, 2017 Screenwriters Anders Thomas Jensen , Jeff Pinkner , Nikolaj Arcel , Akiva Goldsman Cast Matthew McConaughey , Tom Taylor , Idris Elba , Jackie Earle Haley , Abbey Lee , Katheryn Winnick , michael barbieri , Fran Kranz Running time 95 minutes Studio(s) Sony Expand