Despite it being 2015 now, the internet reacted in its usual 'varied' way to Thursday's news that Luther star Idris Elba had become the frontrunner to play gunslinger Roland Deschain in the upcoming film adaptation of The Dark Tower.
Similarly to when he was touted as a contender to take over from Daniel Craig as James Bond, there was a backlash from those who wanted the part to be played by a white man, as he was depicted in the original books, written by legendary horror writer Stephen King.
However, the man himself has tacitly given his endorsement to Elba, by tweeting over the weekend that "to me, the color of the gunslinger doesn't matter". With King down to co-produce the film and a man who is often heavily involved in the big screen adaptations of his works, this is a big boost to the chances of the 43-year-old Brit star taking on the role.
Elba has, of course, previously played the originally-white Norse god Heimdall in Marvel's Thor franchise and everyone was happy with that; with King unconcerned, hopefully we can all just hope for the best man for the job to be selected.
The first instalment of the much-delayed franchise will be The Gunslinger, with Matthew McConaughey widely-tipped to be taking on the role of the villainous Man in Black. Meanwhile, Nikolaj Arcel will direct, with Ron Howard, Brian Grazer and Erica Huggins co-producing alongside King.
(Image: Rex)
