Since its publication in 1978, author Stephen King has come up with three different endings for
The Stand. Somewhat fittingly, the Bible-sized tome with over a dozen central characters, each one detailed enough to be the main character in their own story about the near destruction and possible salvation of the entire human race, has drawn back King’s itchy writing finger to rethink what happens when it’s all over.
King first revised the ending of
The Stand in 1990 with an expanded edition that added a few hundred more pages. Now he’s done one more pass, writing the final episode of the CBS All Access miniseries, which just wrapped up. The differences reflect a writer who’s in an evolving relationship with the world around him.