‘The Dark Tower’ Star Idris Elba Honors His Gunslinger Heritage in New Teaser Photo

We could use some good news today, and a new teaser image from the long-developing adaptation of The Dark Tower will do just fine. In another intriguing bit of promotion for the film, Idris Elba honors the iconic role of Stephen King’s heroic Gunslinger, proudly announcing his arrival as Roland Deschain — and he has not forgotten the face of his father.

Fans of King’s book series are quite familiar with Roland’s lineage: He is the son of Stephen and the descendant of Arthur, and is the last in a long line of Gunslingers. It’s something Roland proudly claims throughout the books, and it’s what Elba is proclaiming now:

The image doesn’t do much, but Elba’s caption gives me chills. “You have forgotten the face of your father” is an oft-repeated phrase in the series, and one that’s used to firmly remind someone when they have strayed from the righteous path or if they’re behaving in a way that dishonors their mission and disgraces their heritage. So when Elba says “And I have not forgotten,” it’s a powerful mission statement, and one that indicates his unwavering commitment to the cause. That cause is to find the titular Dark Tower and defeat the nefarious Red King before he can use the tower to destroy the world.

The last teaser image was a bit more revelatory: Stephen King shared a photo of the fabled Horn of Eld, an object Roland left on a battlefield long ago. It’s implied throughout the novels that if Roland still had the horn, then the conclusion of the series would have been a bit different…To say much more would get into potential spoiler territory, but you can read all about it here.

Mostly, that image indicated that Nikolaj Arcel’s version of The Dark Tower isn’t so much an adaptation as it is a sequel, and given the nature of the series’ climactic finale, fans of the books know that the presence of the Horn of Eld could be a hugely exciting game-changer.

The Dark Tower also stars Matthew McConaughey, Abbey Lee, Jackie Earle Haley and Fran Kranz, and hits theaters on February 17, 2017.