Stephen King Stands by That Controversial New ‘Running Man’ Ending

There are three different versions of The Running Man, with three different endings. The original 1982 book ends one way, the 1987 movie ends another, and now Edgar Wright’s 2025 movie with Glen Powell has its own. In our review, we felt the ending was the biggest problem with the film, but one very important person liked it more than we did: Stephen King.

A few weeks back, we learned that Wright and co-writer Michael Bacall had to get King’s permission to change the ending of the story, which he granted. And now, with the film in theaters, King told Entertainment Weekly exactly what he thought about the ending. “I like the ending of Edgar’s version of The Running Man very much,†King told EW. “Can’t say too much—spoilers—but I think readers of the novel will be satisfied because they get to have it both ways. If you see what I mean, and I’m betting you do.â€

That’s the non-spoiler answer. Let’s dive into what he means and why we weren’t fans of it below.

So let’s break this down quickly. In the 1987 version of the story, which is radically different in a ton of ways, Ben Richards (Arnold Schwarzenegger) is thought to be dead but later emerges in The Running Man studio, sends the show’s host/creator Killian (Richard Dawson) into the arena, gets the girl, and lives happily ever after. That’s a huge departure from the 1982 book, where Richards actually dies by flying a plane into the network TV building. The book ends with the dark line of “The explosion was tremendous, lighting up the night like the wrath of God, and it rained fire twenty blocks away.†Brutal.

Wright’s film is sort of a mix of both. The whole movie very closely mirrors the story of the 1982 novel, so we do see Ben Richards (Powell) get on a plane with a course set for the network building. But things change when it gets shot down on the way, never reaching its destination, and everyone assumes Ben is dead. Of course, he’s not. Through the social media creator we met earlier in the movie (Apostle, played by Daniel Ezra), we learn that Ben somehow escaped the plane before it exploded. We then see Ben reunite with his family and, finally, invade The Running Man and get revenge on Killian (Josh Brolin).

So you get the mostly happy, burn-the-world-down ending from the movie, but also the book-accurate setup with Ben on a plane and the plane crashing. That’s King’s “get to have it both ways.†Which we totally understand. Plus, it makes sense. We’re pretty sure modern audiences would not have liked seeing Glen Powell die at the end by flying a plane into a building. That hits much differently now than it did in 1982, obviously.

However, one of the things we liked most about Wright’s version of the film is how meticulous it is. It explains the rules, the locations, all of it in such detail. But that goes completely out the window at the end, when we are fed this sort of YouTube video that doesn’t explicitly explain anything, followed by a few very fast-paced wrap-up scenes. Altogether, it robs us of the full satisfaction we could’ve had from both Ben seeing his family again and getting revenge against the network, while also leaving us more questions than answers. It’s all too fast, too loose, and too confusing. Does it give us a happy ending with a twist? Yes, but we hoped for more.

Did you see The Running Man? Did you like the ending? Let us know below.

Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, what’s next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who.