The Stand 2020 - Looks bad, man 😟 -

[Elwood P. Dowd]

Somehow I just heard about this yesterday. Wish I'd remained in ignorance. One of those "I don't even know where to start..." things. Was looking forward to it...for about the first twelve seconds of the first trailer. Now. Eh. Probably not even gonna pirate it. But sperg on the internet? Hell, yeah.

Trailer 1:

Trailer 2:

NYCC interview with the cast:

(Whoopi Goldberg was being Whoppi Goldberg. Could not finish. Spent most of the video wondering when did she get so fat.)

Maybe the media knows this is gonna suck? It doesn't seem to be getting much coverage. Most of what I'm seeing looks like regurgitated press releases. Very brief and very vague. If there's anything written worth posting links to, either in praise or not, I haven't seen it yet.

Warning: Some mildly spoilerific shit follows.

What we know:
One character from the novel has been raceswapped. (Larry Redwood) One Character has been genderswapped. (Ralph Bretner is now Ray Brenter.)

Bizarrely, Larry Underwood was a white pop singer who was accused of "singing black" in the novel, and even the 1994 miniseries. Now he, well, IS black. Will he be accused of "singing white?"

Ralph Brenter was kind of, well, one of life's losers in the novel who always retained a faith in humanity. The kind of guy who could figure out how to jump your car when no one else could, but who couldn't make heads or tails of financing a new car purchase. Looks like his, excuse me HER, importance has been severely diminished in the adaptation anyway. (More on why I think the Brenter character is deprecated in the spoiler tag below. If anyone cares.)

Ruby Dee was a fantastic Mother Abigail in the 1994 mini-series. That's Whoopi Goldberg here. My favorite YouTube comment on the topic:

Why not, indeed?

Amber Heard is playing a selfish, mentally ill, manipulative psychopath (Nadine Cross) in the new series. Can't fault that casting, I guess.

Marilyn Manson is supposed to be in there somewhere. Too lazy to look up his real name and figure out who he's playing.

2nd Edit: I have to think IMDB is wrong, and that Kinnear as Bateman is in multiple episodes, at least five or six. Greg Kinnear is all over the trailers. I guess this Dr. Wen is simply a new character. Phooey on me for thinking IMDB is reliable. And phooey on IMDB for making this post such a mess.

Edit: Greg Kinnear is in it as Glen Bateman. But only for ONE of nine episodes?

I missed him before because I did not open the "full cast" at IMDB. Yeah, he's way down it. Sorry about that. He's listed BELOW "random plague victim," in my defense. And LMAO.
So confused RN. And sorry about that. I don't even know what to think. Why TF would you do it that way? And why would they drag him onto Comicon if they knew he was only on for one episode?

Spoiler: I was wrong. Sort of.

What I am 99% sure of:

Spoiler: I was wrong. Sort of.

One character from the novel has been both race AND genderswapped. There is no Glen Bateman, sociologist, character in the cast listing at IMDB. There is, however, a "Dr. Sylvia Wen," played by Olivia Cheng. My Favorite Martian (Ray Walston from the 1994 mini-series) is now My Favorite Moo Goo Gai Pan, I guess. (More on why I think this in the spoiler tag below. If anyone cares.)

Oddly, older stuff I read says Glen Bateman's character was going to be played by Greg Kinnear. That's even what Wikipedia is still showing. Too many white men, presumably. He's even in the NYCC cast interview video as "Glen Bateman." So...as recently as October 9th, 2020. Very odd.

So..maybe I'm missing something here? Would they change all that stuff so close to release? I think they did, but I guess I could be wrong.

Rumor:
A rumor from that most unimpeachable of sources (YouTube comment sections) is claiming the linear flow of the novel and the 1994 miniseries is going to be completely changed, with the series starting after the epidemic and showing the epidemic itself only in flashbacks. Probably not, but at this point, why not? Why not dump the most interesting part?

I don't even know if this deserves a spoiler tag, since it is right off the trailer. But, eh. Better safe than sorry. I guess I also get a bit autistic here.

Spoiler: Maybe a plot detail.

2nd Edit: That's Greg Kinnear as Glen Bateman, Olivia Cheng as Dr. Sylvia Wen, James Marsden as Stu Redman and Jovan Adepo as Larry Underwood. I assumed what I was seeing was Nick Andros, Wen, Redman and Underwood. All white people look alike, I guess. Looks like they dropped Brentner and added Wen on the walk to Las Vegas, as previously noted. Andros was dead by then, I forgot. He died in the bomb Harold Lauder set off.

This is all wrong. Wrong, wrong, wrong.
That screen shot is clearly when the Boulder "leaders" are walking to Las Vegas. Very close to the end of things, not sure WHY it is in the trailer, but there it is. In the book (and the 1994 miniseries) it was Stu Redman, Glen Bateman, Nick Andros, Larry Underwood and Ralph Brenter. Here it is no Bateman and no Brenter, but plus one Dr. Wen. Leading me to think Brenter is not only a female character, but is now a minor character, and Bateman is well and truly gone just there in passing. (See above.)

So. There it is. Thanks for letting me rant/sperg, even if nobody replies.

2nd edit: Hopefully everything is now accurate. How dare a website confirm my biases.

 

[Just A Butt]

As much as I loved the 1994 version, let's not pretend it wasn't also pretty bad.

Here's hoping the inclusion of a Skarsgård at least makes it watchable.

 

[Feline Supremacist]

This looks like it was in development in or before January 2019. An apocalyptic horror series brought on by a virus might not be in high demand right now, especially when it's a remake of King's The Stand. Most of King's work seem off to me, as in they all seem to have an interesting and/or fascinating premise but somewhere midway he manages to fuck it up either with awful writing, un-named supernatural mumbo-jumbo or a combination of both. Kubrick did a great job with The Shining but we all know no one with his talent is in charge of this.

 

[RomanesEuntDomus]

M O O N, that spells uninspired rehash.

Though admittedly, I always felt that the Miniseries (haven't read the book) kinda falls apart in the second half. The beginning is very good, watching the epidemic run wild, humanity slowly dying and all that, it's a very good first half. But in the end, it kind of feels like "The Stand" entirely lacks "the stand" - like it sets up that final confrontation between good and bad and then just sort of gimps out on it. The good guys infiltrate the bad city and then a few minor things happen, and the city gets blown up with all evil people without any influence by the good guys. Had they not bothered with the bad guys at all, they'd just seen a bright flash to their east one day and it would have had the same result. The story feels like it ramps up for a great finale that we never get.

So overall, things could have been better in the original miniseries.

However, this new thing looks like every straight remake: Uninspired and I fail to see a reason for it to exist. The minor changes to satisfy silly notions of diversity aside, this looks totally unremarkable.
Worst of all, Randall Flagg is just some nobody in this new version. I mean, the original design used in the old show isn't that intimidating either, what with that guy being a denim-wearing mullet dude, but holy shit, does Jamey Sheridan have screen presence. Don't even know what it is, but the guy can pull off a genuinely creepy slasher smile.

 

[Brain Problems]

Worst of all, Randall Flagg is just some nobody in this new version.

I think Skarsgard is good casting but what they showed doesn't inspire confidence. Way too explicit in him doing supernatural shit, none of that psychotic calculating menace that Sheridan and the novel shows. Basically it comes across like most soulless and uninspired products - no subtlety. Who knows, maybe the trailer is meant to trick John Q Public into tuning in but when you look at CBS's previous outings it doesn't inspire that much faith.

 

[Hamsteroid]

Bizarrely, Larry Underwood was a white pop singer who was accused of "singing black" in the novel, and even the 1994 miniseries. Now he, well, IS black. Will he be accused of "singing white?"

That's just like the time they cast beefy black man Idris Elba for the haggard, Clint Eastwood looking Roland Deschain in the Dark Tower """adaptation""".
Is it just me or are they always race swapping in the most retarded way possible?

 

[Ruin]

Is the magical negro trope acceptable in 2020? Because the magical black lady was a pretty huge part of the original novel and the 90's mini series.

 

[Exorbital Columnations]

The good guys infiltrate the bad city and then a few minor things happen, and the city gets blown up with all evil people without any influence by the good guys. Had they not bothered with the bad guys at all, they'd just seen a bright flash to their east one day and it would have had the same result. The story feels like it ramps up for a great finale that we never get.

That's the ending of the book, too. Disappointing all around.

 

[Autumnal Equinox]

Is it just me or are they always race swapping in the most retarded way possible?

Doesn't help matters that Stephen King was all over Elba being Roland. Nevermind the fact Roland's (and Eddie's) race/skin color plays an important role regarding Susannah's character. Nope! Gotta kowtow to the woketards.

For what it's worth at this point, Javier Bardem I think would have made an excellent Roland.

On topic: this adaptation of The Stand looks awful. The 90s miniseries had it's flaws, but it's Citizen Kane compared to this bullshit.

 

[Hamsteroid]

Nevermind the fact Roland's (and Eddie's) race/skin color plays an important role regarding Susannah's character.

My first thought went to the drawing of Eddie: Whenever Roland takes control, Eddie's brown eyes change to Roland's steel blue and confuse the heck out of that stewardess.

The 90s miniseries had it's flaws, but it's Citizen Kane compared to this bullshit.

Especially when the rumors are true and they're messing around with flashbacks.

 

[Not Really Here]

Remakes are always destined to be garbage.

 

[Sneakywombat666]

All movies/TV series based on books from this year onward will NEVER be good. It was always pander to the woke crowd and be terrible. Just don't watch them. Ever. Embrace the literature and teach the newest generations to enjoy the books over the big screen.

And Swan Song > The Stand

 

[Elwood P. Dowd]

Is the magical negro trope acceptable in 2020? Because the magical black lady was a pretty huge part of the original novel and the 90's mini series.

Just saw this. Whoopi has you covered, fam.

It’s a near-guarantee that the 2020 version will rectify many of those things; at the series’ New York Comic Con panel, Whoopi Goldberg, who’s playing Mother Abagail in the new series, explained her character will be much more dynamic this time around: “She couldn’t be the Magic Negro. You couldn’t have that.” In the 1994 series, Ruby Dee cuts a dignified figure despite all the old-age make-up needed to add 30 years to her face, but the way her Mother Abagail is written is unfortunately pretty one-note.

Revisiting 1994's The Stand Ahead of Its New Adaptation
https://archive.md/RoVd7

FWIW, the rest of the article is Gizmodo being Gizmodo. Too many white people. Too many straight people.

The more I'm finding out about this, well, I think I'm just laughing. And God only knows what King is gonna pull out of his ass for the "new ending."

The new series will have the luxury of 10 episodes to sink its teeth into King’s nearly 1,200-page novel; it also will have a new ending penned by King himself. In 1994, The Stand explicitly questioned whether going back to the way things were is the best plan going forward; it also wondered if humans are even capable of changing, even with the promise of a fresh start. No matter what fresh twist the author brings to the material, it seems likely the takeaway from 2020's version of The Stand will still mirror the book, the 1994 series, and 2020 itself: no matter how bad a virus might be, humans who’re under the thrall of a malevolent leader can always be counted on to make things much worse.

With any luck this will put CBS All Access under for good.

 

[Ruin]

How are they going to make mother Abigail "more dynamic?" In the novel she's like a hundred and ten years old, mostly blind, and confined to a wheelchair. Is she going to be doing backflips now and firing off energy blasts because "fuck logic and coherent plots that's wyppipo shieeeet?"

 

[CharlesFosterOffdensen]

As much as I loved the 1994 version, let's not pretend it wasn't also pretty bad.

Here's hoping the inclusion of a Skarsgård at least makes it watchable.

Agreed, thought they fucked up Randall Flagg by retaining his subtlety of being a demonic entity. His ugly ass face transformation when choking out that chick was BAD, even by 1994 standards. It was certainly entertaining though.

Remakes are always destined to be garbage.

Also agree, the only exception that comes to mind is the True Grit remake that came out like 10 years ago.

 

[Meriasek]

Fully expect it to be shite.
I will, however, be surprised if Flagg isn't going to be basically Trump, though.

 

[Wilhelm Bittrich]

Am I the only one who thinks Stephen King is an absolutely overrated author? TBH, in current year a remake of The Stand can only end in the usual woke shitshow we already had to endure with so many other TV shows, so set your expectations to zero.

 

[Not Really Here]

Agreed, thought they fucked up Randall Flagg by retaining his subtlety of being a demonic entity. His ugly ass face transformation when choking out that chick was BAD, even by 1994 standards. It was certainly entertaining though.

Also agree, the only exception that comes to mind is the True Grit remake that came out like 10 years ago.

A once or twice a century exception doesn't invalidate the money saving rule remake=shit.

 

[JohnDoe]

As if King's longer works aren't flawed enough (his strength is short stories) now they want to make all these changes in an effort to turn this into a globalist woke vehicle? Whats the new ending, Mother Abigail reveals 'herself' to be a Muslim tranny and then channels Marx's spirit to use the powers of communism to banish Flagg forever? Everyone celebrates by climbing in a pod to eat their bugs?

That would be what everyone wants, a miniseries that scolds you for daring to live as you want, and not accept the 'new normal' decreed by the Woke lords.

 

[Idiotron]

Took a look at the creators:
One of the showrunners has made some TV shows with really high audience and critical scores, haven't seen them but he seems to know what he's doing.
The other showrunner and also the director of 9 out of 11 episodes, is the director and 1 of 2 writers of The New Mutants.
Stephen King actually wrote the 1st episode but the rest are written by the 2 assholes who wrote The New Mutants and 2 nobodies who wrote basically nothing.
I don't have high hopes for this, should at least look decent because CBS hires pros when it comes to the technical aspects.