Star Alexander Skarsgård weighs in on the Randall Flagg versus Pennywise argument, believing The Stand villain would beat the It evil clown. Stephen King's 1978 novel is set in a post-apocalyptic America ravaged by a deadly pandemic of weaponized influenza as those who have survived begin gathering in groups around the country, each standing on opposing sides of good and evil. The story primarily revolves around Stu Redman, a Texas citizen who is immune to the virus and eventually must lead a group of survivors to Las Vegas in the hopes of stopping Randall Flagg, a being with supernatural abilities who has created a totalitarian society of psychopaths.
Flagg was first brought to life on screen in the 1994 miniseries adaptation of The Stand played by Jamey Sheridan, which was nominated for six Primetime Emmy Awards and won two for Outstanding Makeup and Sound Mixing for a Miniseries, Movie or a Special. The superhuman villain would return to the screen in 2017 with the long-gestating film adaptation of The Dark Tower portrayed by Matthew McConaughey, which infamously underperformed at the box office and was slaughtered by critics. The most recent outing to see Flagg brought to life was that of the 2020 adaptation of The Stand with Skarsgård embodying the role, with the miniseries receiving a mixed reception from critics and audiences alike.
While speaking with CinemaBlend for Robert Eggers' Viking epic The Northman, Alexander Skarsgård shared his thoughts on the Randall Flagg versus Pennywise debate. The Stand 2020 star humorously noted his own bias but stood firm that Flagg would likely beat out the It antagonist if push came to shove between the two entities. See what Skarsgård shared below:
"I don't wanna sound cocky, but probably Flagg. I mean, he's kind of the devil in a way... He's pretty powerful."
After initially serving as a general demonic figure in The Stand, Flagg would later return with King's The Dark Tower series of novels as an evil wizard fighting to keep gunslinger Roland Deschain from reaching it in an effort to claim it for himself and become a god. Much like Flagg, Pennywise the Clown has branched out of his source It novel to other works in King's bibliography, including 11/22/63 in which he appeared to haunt Jake in one portion of the 2011 book while references were made to the evil clown in The Dark Tower series. Tim Curry memorably brought Pennywise to life first with the miniseries adaptation of It, for which he scored critical acclaim while the series itself divided critics, and would be succeeded by Bill Skarsgård for Andy Muschietti's well-received duology of movies.
Given Alexander Skarsgård embodied the role of Randall Flagg for a multi-episode version of The Stand over a compressed film adaptation of King's novel, it's understandable he would believe his villain to beat Pennywise. Additionally, given the source novel sees Flagg survive the nuclear explosion intended to kill him, only coming away with memory loss, while the Losers Club were able to use their physical might to defeat Pennywise in the It novel. Audiences can revisit the Skarsgård brothers' latest foray into the world of Stephen King with The Stand 2020 available to stream on Paramount+ and both It movies streaming on HBO Max.
Source: CinemaBlend