The ending of “Halloween Kills” leaves a few lingering questions, chief among them – is Michael Myers aka The Shape, the blank, remorseless killer from John Carpenter’s 1978 original and a new trilogy of films that began with 2018’s “Halloween,” continues with “Halloween Kills” and concludes with next year’s “Halloween Ends,” actually supernatural?
Spoilers for “Halloween Kills” follow below.
According to director David Gordon Green (who directed the first two films and is lensing the third in January), Myers is not some supernatural force, despite surviving a hail of bullets, multiple stabbings and violent beatdown from enraged Haddonfield residents. “The suggestion that he is more than a man is a theory that Laurie has,” the filmmaker told IGN. “My own personal concept for Michael, which will carry forward as long as I’m involved, is that he’s capable of spectacular things but not impossible [things]. I don’t personally see him as supernatural, but I see the element of fear that he’s created and generated and exacerbated is transcending the immediate character and moved on to an entire community.”
In the same interview, Green says that the next film, “Halloween Ends,” “has a little less novelty and a little bit more specificity in the emotion of a Laurie/Michael connection.” Given the somewhat divisive nature of “Halloween Kills,” this sounds like a very good route to take.
“Halloween Kills” cleaned up at the box office this past weekend, grossing over $50 million domestically despite the fact that the film was widely available to stream on Peacock at the same time. This bodes well for Universal’s franchise plans, as “Halloween Ends” is due to be released on October 14, 2022.
Following that, Green isn’t leaving iconic horror franchises behind. The filmmaker is due to spearhead a trilogy of “The Exorcist” sequel films for Universal, which he’ll tackle once “Halloween Ends” is complete. Additionally, Green just signed on to direct a film about the creation of Disneyland for Disney+, although that film is further out as it’s only just in development.