Alexander Skarsgard (True Blood, Big Little Lies) will be playing Randall Flagg in CBS All Access’ miniseries adaptation of Stephen King’s post-apocalyptic horror novel The Stand.

The Stand takes place in the very near future after a virus developed for biological warfare called Project Blue kills 99% of the population. The remaining survivors create communities that coalesce around two leaders, one of which, in Las Vegas, is lead by Flagg, who King describes as “an accomplished sorcerer and a devoted servant of the Outer Dark.”

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The Stand marks the first appearance of Flagg as a villain, but not the last: he has the ability to travel across dimensions and he is the main antagonist in The Dark Tower book series and in the short fantasy novel The Eyes of the Dragon.

Other actors that have played the same character include Matthew McConaughey, in 2017’s movie adaptation of The Dark Tower, and Jamey Sheridan in the 1994 miniseries adaptation of The Stand.

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King will be involved in the production and has already written the miniseries' tenth episode, which will include an epilogue to the original story. This will be the fourth time that King made changes to his work: when it was originally released in 1978, King's editor had cut 400 pages of text, much to his displeasure. He updated the text for the first time in the '80s, along with new references that would place the characters in the same decade, and then in 1990, he released the "uncut" version with further modifications, moving the plot to the '90s.

The Stand will air in 2020 on CBS All Access. Josh Boone will serve as the showrunner along with Benjamin Cavell. Casting is underway, with the show entering pre-production soon.

(via Collider)