Last summer, Marilyn Manson revealed that he’d been cast in The Stand, Josh Boone and Benjamin Cavell’s miniseries adaptation of Stephen King’s post-apocalypse epic, sparking rumors that Manson would (obviously) play the role of the pyromaniac Trashcan Man—the musician even collaborated with Shooter Jennings on a cover of the Doors’ “The End” for the series, which premieres December 17 on CBS All Access. But, as dramatically unveiled by EW last week, the role of the deranged trash person will actually be played by Ezra Miller (in adult diapers, we guess, but also, of course), leaving several folks wondering what the heck happened to Marilyn Manson’s involvement in this whole thing. EW actually teased the story behind Manson’s casting in last week’s feature on Miller, with Cavell noting that they’d been in talks with the rocker for the role of The Kid—the complete psychopath who transports Trashcan Man to Las Vegas in the extended version of King’s novel.
Boone further clarified what happened with the Manson casting in another feature from EW, in which the director reveals the very typical reason why the musician didn’t end up in the series: scheduling conflicts. Says Boone:
The show was made on a very tight budget and some of the dreams we had went to the wayside. The Kid was another casualty. When Manson wasn’t able to make it work schedule-wise, the storyline was ultimately excised and never shot, which is for the best, as no one could have slayed that role like Manson would have. Hope to work with him in the future.
“We thought we were going to be able to restore the character of The Kid,” Cavell says, “but there really isn’t a lot of reason for The Kid to exist.” Boone also says that due to budgetary constraints, they weren’t able to use Manson and Jennings’ cover of “The End”—which is honestly seems like it’s for the best because The Stand already feels over-adorned with heavy-handed choices, from the lack of imaginative casting to Ezra Miller in adult diapers.