‘Chucky’ Season 2: Don Mancini Hopes to Create a ‘Chukyverse’ Like Marvel
Showbiz Cheatsheet attended New York Comic-Con 2022 to get the latest on Chucky Season 2 from Don Mancini and the cast themselves. At the panel, the horror series creator dived deep into what is in store for fans, from new characters to Jake and Devon’s LGBTQ story. But Mancini gave fans a hopeful look into the future of an expanded universe as Chucky Season 2 is underway.
[SPOILER ALERT: Spoilers ahead regarding Chucky and Chucky Season 2.]
‘Chucky’ serves as a sequel to the franchise’s seventh movie installment and a continuation
The horror series has given Chucky fans a new breath of fresh air regarding the heinous killer doll. Chucky Season 1 served as a sequel to Cult of Chucky from the movie franchise and brought back many beloved characters like Andy Barclay (Alex Vincent), Nica Pierce (Fiona Dourif), Tiffany (Jennifer Tilly), and Brad Dourif. Horror fans are well aware of how Cult of Chucky ended and how it ties into the storyline for the series.
But the series introduced a new group of main characters who must deal with the chaotic mind of Chucky. So far, Chucky is a perfect fit for the franchise, elevating it with even more murder, blood, and scary moments. One aspect of the series that fans loved was its creative license of Charles Lee Ray, the soul inhabiting the doll.
The franchise has a few loose ends that the series somewhat addressed during its time. Fans finally learned how Lee Ray met Tiffany and a backstory to the killer’s childhood. As Chucky Season 2 is underway, Mancini gave fans at New York Comic-Con his thoughts on why he created the series and where he wants to head next.
Don Mancini wanted to elevate the franchise and hopefully create a ‘Chuckyverse’
Chucky Season 2 is already a big success after its first episode premiere and is reinventing horror from the small-screen. During the New York Comic-Con panel, the creator was asked if it had been a long-time dream of his to take the Chucky story and turn it into a series.
“Yeah. It’s been a dream for a while since I first worked on Hannibal for Bryan Fuller, is when I first started thinking about it,” explained Mancini. “And one of the reasons I wanted to bring it to television is because when I first worked on Hannibal, I just saw that the process of making television by its very nature, if you do it correctly, that you had the right writers and directors, then I knew I could elevate it.”
But Mancini was soon asked what the series, its characters, storylines, and popularity mean for the original movie franchise. The moderator brought up the idea of a ‘Chuckyverse.’ ” That’s my biggest dream is to be able to have it like Marvel. To have the television series going on, the movies happening, and other tv spinoffs happening. Who wouldn’t want that?” explained Mancini.
Fans cheered at the possibility of Chucky’s killer story being far from over. Mancini created the character in 1988 with Child’s Play. Since then, the killer doll has become a horror staple and the franchise a cult classic. “No one doesn’t know Chucky,” said Zachary Arthur about Mancini’s infamous character.
‘Chucky’ Season 2 will introduce more of the franchise’s biggest characters
Seeing as the series is tied to the original movies, it makes sense that Mancini would bring back fan-favorite characters. In the first season, fans saw the return of Jennifer Tilly as Tiffany and herself, alongside Andy and Nica. But the first episode of Chucky Season 2 also brought back another teased character created by Mancini, but an older version.
While fans saw the exact blonde version doll of Tiffany, fans got a meta moment. Lexi’s sister gets a new doll from the therapist to help her cope. It just so happens the doll is wearing a wedding gown and has black hair. Later in the episode, Devon (Björgvin Arnarson) informs Jake and Lexi the doll is similar to that from Bride of Chucky. They are also aware that Tilly is, in fact, Chucky’s lover.
But Chucky Season 2’s trailer also reveals the grand introduction of Glen and Glenda, played by Lachlan Watson. The characters made their franchise debut in Bride of Chucky. Glen is the spawn of the two dolls who is not a killer but has a female alter ego. The movie ends with Glen and Glenda’s souls becoming human, and the series picks up with older versions of them.
Chucky Season 2 airs every Wednesday on SyFy at 9 p.m. EST.
