ThisDark Towerarticle contains spoilers.

It is held up by six beams, which contain two portals at each end.

The twelve portals are protected by hulking magical Guardians.

We dont meet any such Guardians in the movie.

Why is this Tower so important?

Well, without it the multiverse would crumble and all that would be left is chaos.

The Tower takes different forms on different worlds.

It can only truly be accessed in Mid-World, the place Roland and Walter Padick are from.

You could say that Kay Deschain was one of the original gunslingers.

The gunslingers final defeat came at the Battle of Jericho Hill, which only Roland survived.

When we first meet Roland in the books, hes not all that interested in reaching the Tower.

In the movie, the Man in Black kills his father, Steven, and flees across the desert.

(Theyre actually very clearly in the woods and not the desert at all in the movie.

There isnt a single scene where the Man in Black is fleeing across the desert.)

Walter Padick

Walter goes by many names.

This would have, of course, been disastrous.

It seems like the apple doesnt fall far from the tree.

Unlike in the movie, Walter doesnt have a definitive death in his first appearance in the books.

After he talks to Roland about his destiny, he puts the gunslinger to sleep for a hundred years.

When Roland wakes up, he finds nothing but bones under the black cloak.

Jakes storyline in the movie is changed quite a bit from the books.

You see, things get really complicated in terms of time with Jake.

He is first introduced inThe Gunslingerwhen Roland runs into him at a way station in the desert.

Okay, so most of that is done away with for the movie.

Jake simply senses other worlds than these and eventually finds his way to Mid-World through a portal in Brooklyn.

Jakes telepathic powers and precognition are known as the touch in the books.

Walter doesnt need Jakes abilities to bring down the Tower, though.

The filmmakers really wanted to push the father/son relationship when it came to Roland and Jake.

Theyve both lost their fathers by the time the movie begins.

Mid-World

Mid-World is the only world on which the Tower physically exists.

In-World is where Rolands city of Gilead stood, while End-World is where the Tower is located.

Roland basically has to cross the entire landscape to get to make it to his destination.

(Hes already been fleshed out quite a bit above!)

Perhaps well learn more about him in the next movie?

Steven Deschain

Steven Deschain is Rolands father.

He was the dinh (or leader) of Gilead and a gunslinger.

The movie handles Stevens death a bit differently.

Father and son are side by side after a big battle, the only two remaining gunslingers left.

Together they face Walter, who easily kills Steven by telling him to stop breathing.

Stevens death is the reason Roland is after Walter in the movie.

It was the end of the Affiliation, the ruling government of Mid-World.

We also know that Walter (then known as Marten Broadcloak) fled across the desert after this battle.

That would seem to indicate that its indeed the Battle of Jericho Hill thats being referenced.

This time, of course, Roland remembers to take the Horn of Eld with him.

The Horn first belonged to Arthur Eld and was passed down for generations until Steven gave it to Roland.

It is hinted that the Horn is vital to Rolands entry into the Tower.

Roland sometimes calls them the widowmakers.

Arra Champignon

Arra Champignon is one of the Manni seers in the movie.

In both instances, she is pregnant and is killed.

The very obviously fake skin is definitely a staple of their appearance in the books.

It may be that the movie fused the Taheen and Can-toi together.

Its not far off either since the Can-toi are the result of the Taheen mating with humans.

When not wearing flesh costumes, the Can-toi look like humanoid rats.

19

19 is a very important number throughoutThe Dark Towerseries and in other King books.

The movie definitely calls attention to it.

You basically see the number scribbled everywhere.

In fact, 19-19 are the coordinates Jake uses to travel to Mid-World in the movie.

The number really begins to pop up in the books towards the end of the series.

Roland and his ka-tet (his group of followers) begin to see the number everywhere.

Unlike the other worlds in the multiverse, Keystone Earth doesnt have its own version of the Tower.

If the Rose were to be destroyed on our world, the Tower would be destroyed.

We never actually see the Rose in the movie, but there are teases of it in Jakes drawings.

Of course, he may just like drawing roses.

Devar-Toi

The Devar-Toi is Walters weird Bond villain base in the movie.

1408

Oh, we are entering easter egg territory.

1408 is the number the bad guys use to travel to the Devar-Toi.

Its also the number of the haunted room in the King short story of the same name.

This happens inThe Gunslingerexcept the scene is way more fucked up.

You see, the demons of Rolands world feed off humans by mating with them.

There isnt a big gun fight or monster in the book.

Instead, Roland saves the boy by having sex with the demon…

This would later lead to the birth of Rolands son, Mordred, who was half-human and half-spider.

Black Thirteen represents the Dark Tower itself.

Dutch Hill Mansion

This evil mansion is located in Brooklyn and is a portal to Mid-World.

In both the movie andThe Waste Lands, he prevails.

(The mansion doesnt give up as easily in the book, though!)

Its sort of a gratuitous nod, but go with it.

The Breakers

I mentioned the Breakers above as well.

Theyre powerful psychics who the Crimson King captures for take down the Tower.

In the books, the Dixie Pig is a restaurant.

Stuff happens here, but not like what happens in the movie.

Sayre

Sayre is probably Richard Sayre from the books.

He is a high ranking can-toi and resides at the Dixie Pig.

He is played by the very talented Jackie Earle Haley in the movie.

That is not really the case.

Tirana is a Can-toi in the books and she is acting like one in the movie.

She exists so that Walter can make suggestive remarks at her and later burn her face when hes mad.

Im rolling my eyes as I write this.

Its a blink and youll miss it moment.

Pennywise

This is a not so subtleIteaster egg.

A sign reading Pennywise once welcomed the people of Mid-World to a theme park.

The Overlook Hotel

A picture of the Overlook Hotel can be spotted in the psychiatrists office.

This is a reference to the hotel where the events ofThe Shiningtake place.

Twins

This image of twins cannot be ignored.

you might spot these twins sitting in the nice little community in the Devar-Toi.

This is yet another reference toThe Shining.

You remember the creepy twins who want Danny to play with them, right?

And I dont mean killer as in cool.

The Smiley Face

Brady Hartsfield, the serial killer in the novelMr.

Mercedes, uses a smiley face as his calling card.

Walter leaves a smiley face for Roland and Jake after he pays the boys parents a visit.

Miserys Child

A book called Miserys Child makes an appearance in the movie.

That is, of course, the novel that drove Annie Wilkes to kidnap and torture writer Paul Sheldon.

The fictional novel features the death of Annies favorite character.

Thats a no no.