Horror fans everywhere were absolutely delighted when the trailer for new movie M3GAN dropped. It features a life-size doll companion for a lonely little girl who has lost her parents. And shock-horror, the robot starts to become obstinate, unruly, and possibly murderous. From Conjuring‘s Annabelle, to Brahms the Boy, to Slappy in Goosebumps – creepy dolls are a long-standing horror trope. Now, the king of the killer dolls – Chucky – has begun a Twitter beef with M3GAN.
Chucky is of course the star of the long-running Child’s Play saga, which began in 1988 and has had eight entries, all the way up to 2019. He is now starring in his own very successful TV series, which has been a hit with critics and fans alike. But it looks like someone has got too big for their little red sneakers, because he’s not happy that there’s a new challenger in town.
When the trailer dropped a few days ago, the clip of M3GAN doing some primo dance moves quickly went viral. M3GAN is from Akela Cooper and James Wan, who brought us the best horror movie of 2021 – Malignant.
M3GAN stars Get Out’s Allison Williams and Violet McGraw, who was in The Haunting of Hill House. The robot doll who becomes the companion of McGraw’s Cady is creepily realistic, residing solidly in the uncanny valley. Chucky commented on the trailer by saying; “everybody’s tryna be me.”
M3GAN is set for release on January 13, 2023, which will certainly mean there’s something to look forward to after the holidays, and will help with the New Year blues. It’s directed by Gerard Johnstone, who was behind 2014’s Housebound.
While we wait for the release of M3GAN, as well as for Chucky to return in the second season of his popular show, check out our guide to the best horror series.