My thoughts on Idris Elba as the Gunslinger.

Having seen some of the first pictures of Idris Elba, I’m thinking: Yeah, he’ll be a better Gunslinger than James Bond.  And it’s a such a little thing for me, too: Elba likes to have some facial hair. When I think of Bond I kind of think of a character whose essential cruelty has been carefully brought under control through sheer will; and having an absolutely clean-shaven appearance serves as a visual confirmation of that. So Idris Elba would have had to just lose the stubble.

But as Roland?  Dude can get away with that half-stubble, half-beard thing he’s got going.  Works for the character in a way that it wouldn’t work for Bond.

Moe Lane

PS: The eyes look right.  Particularly Matthew McConaughey’s: I can believe that those are the eyes of The Man In Black.

Hey, missed this: Idris Elba to play Roland in “The Dark Tower.”

Drawback to a vigorous and spirited Presidential primary, I suppose: you miss the important news. As I understand it, they wanted Matthew McConaughey to play Roland, only he wanted to play the Man in Black, because, let’s face it: that’s a pretty sweet villain role to have. Maybe not a Christopher Lee-level villain role, but it’s definitely an Alan Rickman-level one, and you could see how an actor might want a shot at it. So they ask Idris Elba, who of course took the role.

Now, all of this means that they’re gonna have to rewrite Susannah’s character a little, of course.  But it’s probably not going to have to be too much, and besides: Idris Elba. I’d cast him that role myself.