Michael Rooker, best known for depicting Yondu in MCU's Guardians of the Galaxy films, has officially joined the cast of The Dark Tower. On the smaller screen, he is known for his starring role in AMC's The Walking Dead as Merle Dixon.

The Dark Tower is a series of books written by Stephen King that has been adapted to film in 2017, with Idris Elba playing The Gunslinger and Matthew McConaughey playing his nemesis The Man in Black. Directed by Nikolaj Arcel, the film proved unsuccessful with critics and fans alike and plans for future installments were scrapped. Amazon then acquired the rights and announced they would reboot the saga as a series.

Glenn Mazzara is developing the series for the streaming giant and The Dark Tower will reunite Rooker with the former Walking Dead writer and producer and is already filming the pilot on location in Croatia.

This announcement follows the news that Game of Thrones' Jerome Flynn has landed a role of a cowboy on the show. The veteran actors will join Sam Shrike, who's been confirmed to be playing the titular Gunslinger of the novels: Roland Deschain. The role of The Man in Black, who serves as Roland's lifelong nemesis, will be played by Jasper Pääkkönen.

It's already been confirmed that Amazon's series will explore Roland's younger years - long before he's the grizzled, unstoppable warrior depicted in the books and Rooker might play Roland's stern father Stephen or his gruff teacher Cort.

The Dark Tower is scheduled to be released on Amazon in 2020.