Child’s Play is in rude health right now. Last year’s reboot vastly exceeded expectations, was a rollercoaster of laughs and scares and featured an excellent vocal performance from Mark Hamill as Chucky. But longtime fans of ‘classic’ Chucky will soon have a lot to chew on, too, as 2021 will see the release of Chucky. The upcoming TV show is helmed by original creator Don Mancini, boasts the vocal talents of Brad Dourif and will continue the long-running saga seen in the first seven movies.
But could heading to the small screen blunt Chucky’s psychopathic charms? Apparently not. During a Comic-Con@Home panel, Mancini and executive producer Nick Antosca reassured fans that Chucky won’t be toned down, with the former saying:
“When Nick and I set up Chucky at Syfy, one of the first things we had to make sure of [was] that Chucky could drop his F-bombs, because it’s such an intrinsic part of his character, it would just seem wrong if he couldn’t… Fortunately, before we signed on the dotted line, they confirmed, yes, he can. I think he can drop, like, eight F-bombs per episode, or something like that — eight to ten, something like that — and I think there’s variations depending on what time it airs.”
As someone who’s basically grown up with the Child’s Play movies, I’m glad that we’re going to continue where they left off. The official synopsis also sounds promising, describing the show as:
“After a vintage Chucky doll turns up at a suburban yard sale, an idyllic American town is thrown into chaos as a series of horrifying murders begin to expose the town’s hypocrisies and secrets. Meanwhile, the arrival of enemies and allies from Chucky’s past threatens to expose the truth behind the killings, as well as the demon doll’s untold origins as a seemingly ordinary child who somehow became this notorious monster.”
The very existence of this series makes the rebooted movie (which is almost certain to get a sequel) go down a hell of a lot easier. When they announced that they were bypassing the original creator, recasting Chucky and redesigning the doll, I wasn’t happy as I felt it was disrespectful to Mancini, who has basically poured his heart and soul into the Child’s Play franchise.
Here’s hoping that this successfully invigorates this strand of the property though and keeps classic Chucky going for many years. And hey, maybe at some point we can even see the two Chuckys cross over?