The second trailer for The Dark Tower is now out and while it doesn't answer many questions about what sort of story the movie plans to tell, it does give us a brief look at a place that would appear to play an important part in the movie. The opening seconds of the new trailer contains a similar voice over to the first trailer, including Roland talking about the role of Gunslingers in times past. However, the very first shot is of a city we've never seen before, but the context has us wondering if it could be a key city from Roland's own past. Check it out.
In the Dark Tower novels written by Stephen King, Gilead is a mythical location. While it was Roland's home as a boy, we never really get a good look at it. When the first book opens Gilead has already fallen to external forces and Roland only speaks of it in passing, though those that know of Gilead speak of it in reverential tones. Since the trailer opens with a discussion of the past, could this first shot be of a city of the past? Could this be the fabled Gilead?
The only context clue is that this city is shown to us at the same time that we hear Roland discussing the past. If, however, that voice over does actually come from the movie, perhaps during a period where Roland tells the story of his past to the boy Jake, an event which is part of the original first book in the series, then perhaps we'll get a look at Roland's home before the fall.
Of course, since we know that The Dark Tower is not a direct adaptation of the first book, that opens up the number of possible locations this could be. One other possible name for this series of structures is Algul Siento. Also known as the Devar-Toi, it was a campus constructed for the housing and working of Breakers, people with powerful mental abilities who were being used to destroy the Beams holding up the Dark Tower. While the location didn't play a part until much later in the books, we know that characters who did not appear until late in the novels will be showing up in this first film, so the same could be true of places. We know that the reason that The Man in Black is after Jake is that Jake is one of these Breakers, so it fits as far as that goes.
In addition to the place we also see one other important new piece of information, Mathew McConaughey's Man in Black is a true magician, with the ability to conjure fire out of the air. While fans of the books will know that the character has always been capable of great power, we rarely if ever see him use offensive magic like this, as The Man in Black is usually content to try and stop Roland's advance toward the Tower through more indirect means.
Regardless, if there's one thing we can be sure of it is that The Dark Tower is going to be a very interesting film. Even fans of the material have little idea what to expect, which is exciting in its own way. The journey begins for The Dark Tower August 4.
