‘Chucky’ Creator Don Mancini Unveils 1 Major Plotline for the SYFY Series
The sinister doll from the Chucky horror franchise is returning to the small-screen in a new USA/SYFY television series. Child’s Play creator Don Mancini will return for the series, with Brad Dourif returning as the original voice of Chucky and Jennifer Tilly (Bride of Chucky, Seed of Chucky, Curse of Chucky) as Tiffany Valentine. As the premiere date for the live-action series steadily approaches, Mancini reveals one major plotline the Chucky series will delve into.
‘Chucky’ delves into Charles Lee Ray’s origin story
In the original film series, viewers never got a chance to see Charles Lee Ray’s life before he transferred his soul into the “Good Guy” doll. The first Child’s Play movie starts with Ray running from detective Mike Norris (Chris Sarandon). He runs into a toy store, injured from a gunshot wound. Norris shoots him in the chest, and Ray falls to the floor.
Desperate to escape, he performs a voodoo ritual with the doll and transfers his soul before he can take his final breath. Then, the rest of the film series follows Ray trying to find a new host. But, audiences never got a chance to see what the serial killer was like before the first movie. The films allude to Ray being a notorious serial killer, often referred to as the Lakeshore Strangler. However, the film never did a deep dive into his past.
During a Television Critics Association panel interview, Mancini explained why the SYFY series would tackle Charles Lee Ray’s origin story after the film series. “Exploring Charles Lee Ray’s origins has been something that the fans have wanted to see and have been asking for literally for decades now,” he said.
“And one of the reasons I was excited about taking the franchise into the medium of television was because having so much storytelling real estate, eight hours of Chucky, that provided such a great opportunity for exploring that stuff, among other stuff,” he continued. “But, yeah, so one of the things I was most excited about doing with the show was exploring Charles Lee Ray’s origin.”
‘Chucky’ will answer questions from the original film franchise
The SYFY series will be a continuation of the seventh film in the Chucky franchise, Cult of Chucky. In the television series, a vintage Chucky doll stumbles into an American suburban town. After Chucky’s arrival, a series of murders turns the quiet town into a bloodbath and uncovers terrifying secrets. Chucky’s past comes back to haunt him and the untold origin story of the evil killer, Charles Lee Ray, will be explored in the series.
Andy Barclay, who was portrayed by Alex Vincent, will return for the series. Vincent played the lead role in the first two Child’s Play films. He did not return to the franchise until 2013, where he reprised his role as Andy in Cult of Chucky. Andy’s foster sister in Child’s Play 2, Kyle (Christine Elise McCarthy), will also make an appearance in the series.
Don Mancini says the SYFY series will “stay true” to the original films
Child’s Play creator Don Mancini reassured fans that the Chucky series will stay true to the characters in the original horror franchise. “One of the things that was important to me, that we’d be able to retain all of the aspects of the franchise that the fans love, one of which is the gore, the other of which, of course, is Chucky’s propensity for dropping f***bombs,” he explained.
Mancini also said the series will bring back old characters, even if they were killed off in the previous films. “We also have a habit of bringing actors back in different roles from movie to movie. We were doing that before Ryan Murphy started doing that with the repertoire company he put together on American Horror Story. So even if someone dies, they can come back in another role. I started doing that with Jennifer back in the ’90s.”
Chucky premieres on both SYFY and USA on Oct. 12.
