Mike Flanagan’s The Dark Tower Adaptation Needs To Change The Ending

Summary

Adapting popular franchises brings extra criticism due to fan expectations.
Flanagan may change the Dark Tower’s ending in the upcoming series.
To engage fans and newcomers, Flanagan must find a balance in the adaptation.

One of the most difficult things that any creator can do is adapt an already existing and popular franchise. Whether that franchise is a video game, a comic book, or a book series, the conflict in tackling these big projects can be the extra amount of criticism that will come their way. While most filmmakers or creatives like to make their own mark on a project, there is always fan demand to faithfully adapt an already existing story. Finding that balance is the most crucial part of the adaptation process. In the upcoming adaptation of Stephen King’s The Dark Tower series, one question Mike Flanagan needs to ask is whether the ending of the original books needs to change in the live-action series.

The current series, comprised of eight books and several graphic novels, has so many characters, stories, and locations that span not only the world the author created for this story, but the entire Stephen King literary multiverse. Several locations and characters from across his career are referenced or utilized directly in the Dark Tower. Yet, the books have a very specific ending (which will be spoiled, so be aware moving forward). There is a particular direction Mike Flanagan could go in adapting this series, which would drastically change the ending and the direction of the series as a whole. However, it could give fans of the book and newcomers alike that perfect balance to engage with the world of the Dark Tower.

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The Dark Tower Ending, Explained

For those not fully versed in all things The Dark Tower, Stephen King’s magnum opus tells the story of Roland Deschain, the last of the gunslingers in the realm known as Mid-World. His story begins with him chasing the Man in Black in a quest to find the infamous Dark Tower, which in itself is the axis for which all reality is held together to keep back the infinite darkness known as The Prim. However, Roland’s mission would change over time.

While the Dark Tower remains his primary goal, Roland finds and gains new allies in his quest. There’s a young boy named Jake Chambers who would become a surrogate son to him, a recovering addict named Eddie Dean, and a woman with dual personalities named Susannah, who would become Eddie’s wife. Together they form a team of new gunslingers, traveling through Mid-World and beyond to face the Crimson King’s forces. This evil ruler plans to bring down the Dark Tower and let chaos rule again when the Prim returns.

Through many losses and struggles, Roland finally reaches the Dark Tower, and after a deadly final confrontation with the Crimson King, Roland ascends the steps of the Dark Tower. However, as he reaches the top, he discovers, much to his horror, that he has been on an endless loop. He has reached the Dark Tower several times before, and each time has been sent back to the beginning of his journey by the entity known as GAN. However, when the book ends, he finds he has the famed Horn of Eld, an object he lost on several other trips to the Dark Tower. This signals that he may have learned his lesson and now has a chance to finally break the cycle.

How The Dark Tower’s Ending Needs to Change

The emotional gut-punch of the Dark Tower’s ending has stayed with fans for a long time, and is classic Stephen King as well. In the 2017 film adaptation of The Dark Tower starring Idris Elba as the Gunslinger, it became clear that the filmmakers at the time had attempted to write and create a sequel to the books themselves. This would have been a smart way of going about the story. Yet what fell flat the most among longtime Dark Tower fans was how rushed the story felt. It fused too many elements from the entire series into one film without giving readers time to fully connect with this world or the characters themselves. However, Mike Flanagan’s adaptation could change that.

Rather than create a straight copy of the books for television and the big screen, Mike Flanagan’s adaptation needs to perfect the formula the first film failed to capture, and create a true spiritual sequel to the books. Interviews by Mike Flanagan have recently at the need to change certain characters or locations due to other studios having the rights to characters from other Stephen King books. With that in mind, it is apparent that changes to the story will need to be made already. Having the journey changed for this series would be a great way to keep the story fresh for longtime fans, while still giving newcomers the proper introduction to Mid-World that this story requires.

Aside from flashbacks to Roland’s youth, a great way to emphasize the sequel status of the story would be to have the characters struggling with memories of previous journeys along the Tower. This story element was explored already in book three of the series, The Wastelands, when Roland and Jake began to suffer mentally due to dual memories of Jake dying and Jake not dying trying to override their minds. Also, including the famed Horn of Eld that was given to Roland at the end of the books early on in the series would be both an emotional and shocking moment of the series. This is why it is so important that when Mike Flanagan adapts Stephen King’s The Dark Tower, the biggest change needs to be in that ending.