Idris Elba Squares Off Against Matthew McConaughey in First Trailer for The Dark Tower

Posted on May 5, 2017

The first trailer for The Dark Tower has landed. The film is based on the bestselling, epic series by Stephen King, although it looks like there will be some major changes from the book. Idris Elba stars as Roland Deschain, the Gunslinger. He is the last in a long line of knights who must protect the Dark Tower from Walter O'Dim, the Man in Black (Matthew McConaughey).

The Tower holds the multiverse together and the Man in Black is determined to destroy them all. Their battle is eternal and cyclical. The film is posited as a sequel to the book series. Jake Chambers (Tom Taylor), a young man from our world, begins having visions of the Man and Black and the Gunslinger. He finds a portal into their world and meets Roland. He convinces Roland that he must save his Earth even if Roland's world is destroyed. Roland wants to know if there are guns and bullets in the boy's Earth to which he replies that he thinks Roland will like our Earth very much.

Idris Elba seems perfectly cast as the Man in Black. Clearly because the race of Roland has been changed, this will affect some of his racially-charged interactions with other characters in the books. Elba has the right gravitas, and he certainly knows how to handle a gun. In fact his bullet loading technique is a cgi marvel. As for McConaughey, he has slipped right into character as the charismatic Man in Black who appears in many of King's novels under a variety of names. We can't wait to see it. Take a look: