Idris Elba Teases ‘The Dark Tower’ Lineage

Not much has been revealed about the storyline of The Dark Tower, the film adaptation of Stephen King’s sweeping epic that currently encompasses eight novels. What we have heard is that the movie doesn’t necessarily take place at the beginning, instead entering the story at an undetermined point where avid fans will know exactly what’s going on but newcomers will still be able to keep up.

But sometimes a little guiding is necessary as little clues that readers understand slip right past people who haven’t delved into that world. And it turns out that one such clue is coming from Idris Elba, who plays the main character Roland.

In a recent tweet, he writes, “I am Roland, son of Steven, son of Henry, true descendant of Arthur. And I have not forgotten.” Tagged with these words is an image that adds, “Remember the face of your father.”

The former statement refers to Roland being a direct descendent of King Arthur while the latter is a reference to the phrase “You have forgotten the face of your father!“, which is used to convey disappointment and shame.

“Gunslinger Roland Deschain roams an Old West-like landscape in search of the dark tower, in the hopes that reaching it will preserve his dying world.”

The film will star Idris Elba as Roland, Matthew McConaughey as the Man in Black, and we’ll also be seeing Fran Kranz, Jackie Earle Haley, Abbey Lee, and Kathryn Wiggins.

Directed by Nikolaj Arcel and produced by Akiva Goldman, Ron Howard, Brian Grazer, and Erica Hughes, The Dark Tower will be released on February 17th, 2017.