During an interview with Playboy, Matthew McConaughey explained why he chose the role of the Man in Black in Dark Tower over the villain of Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 2:
“I like Guardians of the Galaxy, but what I saw was ‘It’s successful, and now we’ve got room to make a colorful part for another big-name actor,’” he said. “I’d feel like an amendment. The Dark Tower script was well written, I like the director and his take on it, and I can be the creator, the author of the Man in Black — a.k.a. the Devil — in my version of this Stephen King novel. We’ve done the first one. It’s a fantastic thriller that takes place in another realm, an alternate universe, but it’s very much grounded. For instance, the gunslinger’s weapon isn’t a lightsaber or something; it’s a pistol. I enjoyed approaching my character as if I were the Devil having a good time, getting turned on by exposing human hypocrisies wherever he finds them.”
McConaughey co-stars with Idris Elba in the Stephen King adaptation, which hits theaters July 28, 2017.