Stephen King fans — possibly the majority, definitely the loudest ones — want Mike Flanagan to drop everything and lock in on one project.
uncertain
Flanagan → want → project
“Just make The Dark Tower already” is becoming to Flanagan what “just finish the book” is to George R.R. Martin.
asserted
finish → make → Martin
It’s King’s magnum opus, spanning decades and genres, and Flanagan is the preeminent SK adapter of our time, giving us excellent takes on Gerald’s Game, Doctor Sleep, The Life of Chuck, and now Carrie.
asserted
Flanagan → ’ → Chuck
The 48-year-old writer/director obtained the Tower rights in 2022 and has given occasional updates on the slow but steady process of translating an eight-book series intertwining with King’s entire oeuvre.
asserted
director → obtain → oeuvre
**HEAVY SPOILERS FOR THE NEW CARRIE SERIES, now streaming on Prime Video**
“The way the Dark Tower universe is connected, you’ve got characters in there that are all over the place when it comes to studio ownership,” Flanagan recently said to Entertainment Weekly.
asserted
Flanagan → stream → Weekly
It, of course, has taken much longer than I’d like it to, but I work on it all the time.”
asserted
I → take → it
He told the Flanagan’s Wake podcast that the scripts for Season 1 are “wonderful” and SK is “very happy with them.”
asserted
SK → tell → them
(King, 79, did also stump for the bafflingly abysmal 2017 Tower movie, though he eventually backpedaled a bit.
asserted
he → stump → movie
Since Flanagan got the Dark Tower rights, he has: written and directed The Life of Chuck; penned a screenplay for DC (the upcoming Clayface); released The Fall of the House of Usher as his final Netflix show; done Carrie; and shot 2027’s The Exorcist: Martyrs.
asserted
he → get → Exorcist
Now he’s working on a third adaptation of King’s The Mist.
asserted
he → work → Mist
Having seen (and recapped) Carrie, I’m convinced he’s not stalling — he’s building.
asserted
he → see → Carrie
Carrie — which dropped all eight episodes this week on Prime Video — turns a theoretically unnecessary remake into a huge step in the right direction.
asserted
which → drop → direction
The Mist could follow suit.
uncertain
Mist → follow → suit
EW’s Nick Romano specifically posited to Flanagan that Carrie could “eventually become a backdoor entry point” to The Dark Tower.
uncertain
Carrie → posit → Tower
Flanagan took this head on: “I may have asked this very question several times along the way.
uncertain
I → take → way
It’s certainly not impossible.
asserted
It → ’ → ?
There are characters in the Tower canon who would serve a very specific purpose in that story, who audiences wouldn’t necessarily recognize because they only exist in certain books.
asserted
they → be → books
The 2002 adaptation of Carrie saw the pushed-too-far prom queen actually survive.
asserted
queen → see → Carrie
The idea was to make the TV movie a backdoor pilot for a series following the adventures of Carrietta White and Sue Snell.
asserted
movie → make → White
Flanagan’s show ends, like that rendition, with Carrie riding shotgun, escaping Chamberlain not with Sue but the new character Emaline.
asserted
Carrie → end → Sue
Flanagan’s wish is for a three-season arc that presumably explores Carrie’s “place in the larger universe,” her unrealized membership in “a sorority of very gifted women.”
asserted
that → explore → women
He’s definitely taking the on-ramp to The Dark Tower.
asserted
He → take → Tower
Let’s dig into some specifics and predictions.
asserted
’s → let → specifics
How does The Dark Tower already bleed into the new Carrie?
asserted
Tower → bleed → Carrie
Both Sue Snell and Tommy Ross bear the number 19 in their athletic pursuits, which is the magic number in the Tower and the rest of King’s work.
asserted
which → bear → work
That sick bastard Billy Nolan has the eye of the Crimson King — the ultimate multiversal evil — tattooed on one arm.
asserted
eye → have → arm
On the other, he’s got ink that looks like the evil spider-baby entity Mordred.
asserted
that → get → entity
The latter could be more of a wink to Constant Readers, but the eye feels like the real deal.
uncertain
eye → feel → deal
How does one get the Crimson King’s sigil on their body in Chamberlain?
asserted
one → get → Chamberlain
Sombra Corporation is one of several nefarious corporate entities aligned in the Towerverse.
asserted
Corporation → align → Towerverse
Another, LaMerk Industries, runs the construction site where Ralph White dies.
asserted
White → run → site
(Also the factory where the baseball boy is horrifically slain in Doctor Sleep.)
asserted
boy → slay → Sleep
Does Carrie White ever come up in The Dark Tower?
asserted
White → come → Tower
In a meta touch, the novel itself is referred to a few times in the last couple books, including someone talking about what it’s like to “be the butt of the joke every time, to always be Carrie at the fuckin prom.”
asserted
it → refer → prom
No, Carrietta is never referenced.
asserted
Carrietta → reference → ?
So what role could Carrie play?
uncertain
Carrie → play → role
We’re in fully adaptive territory, which was the whole point of the Carrie series: Flanagan & Co. overtly remixing and remolding King’s work for the first time.
asserted
Flanagan → ’re → time
“I love [Frank] Darabont’s film, and there’s zero point in remaking it,” Flanagan said.
asserted
Flanagan → love → it
“Which is why I’m going in a different direction.”
asserted
I → go → direction
In his EW interview, Flanagan brought up 1994’s Insomnia.
asserted
Flanagan → bring → Insomnia
…and 86 more, not listed.
The Aporia
