Colman Domingo Built His The Running Man Villain on Jerry Springer-Era TV Chaos

Edgar Wright is back with a very Edgar Wright idea: turn the volume all the way up on the way we package violence as entertainment, then make you squirm while you laugh. His new version of The Running Man does not pretend this stuff is subtle. That is the point.

The setup

Ben Richards is out of work, out of options, and out of time to pay for his daughter’s medicine. So he signs his life away to The Running Man, a government-run reality juggernaut where contestants try to stay alive for 30 days while a kill squad hunts them. Make it to the end and you win $1 billion. Lose and you become content. It is adapted from Stephen King’s novel, and yes, the events are heightened. Also yes: it feels uncomfortably familiar.

Who is pulling the strings

• Josh Brolin plays Dan Killian, the slick TV executive running the game from behind the curtain.
• Colman Domingo is Bobby T, the show’s charismatic ringmaster in gleaming suits who works the crowd and turns viewers against unsuspecting contestants.
• Lee Pace is Evan McCone, the masked lead Hunter who choreographs the manhunt for Richards.

Colman Domingo’s inspiration is very daytime TV

To build Bobby T, Domingo went straight to the heyday of combustible chat shows. Think Ricki Lake, think Jerry Springer. He points to how those formats didn’t just entertain; they rewired what audiences expect from conflict on TV and nudged civility off a cliff. Bobby T isn’t throwing punches himself; he’s the guy who smiles, stokes the fire, and calls it a segment.

"He was just bringing people on to fight, and saying, 'Oh, well, I had nothing to do with it, I just asked the questions.' People go to their id."

Lee Pace on McCone: loud, scary, and very performative

McCone is the one holding the weapon, but Pace is clear about the swagger: the character is violent as a performance. Real danger hides the gun. McCone flashes it because he is selling an image of dominance for the audience as much as he is hunting Richards.

"Dangerous people don't actually show you their gun, and it's the last thing you would do if you're trying to be really dangerous. But he's trying to project a certain kind of violent machismo."

Showbiz, but make it bleakly honest

The Running Man’s whole engine is: put on a show, no matter the human cost. Pace draws a pretty direct line to the current media landscape. We have gotten comfortable watching hostility because it reassures us we are not the target; it makes some viewers feel strong by proxy. Within the show’s twisted logic, the Network sells Bobby T and McCone as the heroes and recasts Ben Richards as the villain. The manipulation is the product.

Release details

The Running Man is in UK cinemas now. It hits US theaters on November 14.