Mike Flanagan’s Carrie series has been a smashing success for Prime Video — Amazon has already crowned it the prom queen and renewed it for a second season — but the show made some radical changes to the source material, especially the ending, that have rubbed a few book readers the wrong way. On the one hand, having Carrie be possessed by someone else during the deaths of Chris and Billy completely removes her agency in that dark, villainous turn. But on the other hand, we have seen that version of the story four or five times already, so what’s the harm in seeing where Flanagan is going with this one?
The first few episodes of Carrie are a more or less straightforward adaptation of the book, albeit modernized for the age of social media and school shootings, with some characters being significantly fleshed out. But the last couple of episodes took a sharp left turn, threw Stephen King’s debut novel in the trash, and did something completely different. Margaret White wasn’t killed by the collapsing rubble of her home; she was killed by shady government forces because she knew too much. Carrie didn’t just snap after being covered in pig’s blood, and massacre everyone at the prom; she was recruited by some kind of telekinetic Nick Fury who’s putting together a special team.
As a huge fan of the book and the Brian De Palma movie, I didn’t love these changes. But I am intrigued to see where Flanagan goes with it in Carrie‘s second season. Now, he’s completely untethered from the book, in totally uncharted narrative territory, and he’s free to do whatever he wants. Based on the setup, Carrie season 2 could end up feeling more like a different Stephen King book. Carrie going on the run with other telekinetic teens and uncovering a sinister conspiracy sounds a lot more Firestarter than Carrie.
Firestarter’s Villain Would Be The Perfect Addition To Carrie Season 2
<<img src="https://static0.srcdn.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/ryan-kiera-armstrong-charlie-firestarter-imagery.jpg?q=49&fit=crop&w=825&dpr=2" />
</figure>
Firestarter is one of Stephen King’s most cinematic books — it’s got a race against time, a father and daughter on the run, an unstoppable villain on their trail, and a shady government conspiracy to unravel — but we’ve never had a decent adaptation. The 1984 version squandered a great Drew Barrymore performance with pedestrian filmmaking and oversimplified plotting, and the 2022 version squandered a great Ryan Kiera Armstrong performance (and a great John Carpenter score) with plodding pacing, laughable scares, and an overriding sense of boredom.
The 2022 remake was a chance at a do-over, to make up for the mistakes of the 1984 version, but the 2022 film ended up being even worse than the 1984 film (it’s the closest I’ve ever come to walking out of a movie in the middle). Firestarter is a chilling tale of government paranoia — it’s got heart, action, horror, suspense, and a lovable father-daughter duo — and it deserves a much worthier adaptation. So far, the best adaptation of Firestarter has been Eleven’s story in Stranger Things.
After two failed movie adaptations, maybe Flanagan can finally give King fans the Firestarter adaptation they deserve in Carrie season 2. The setup for Carrie‘s next chapter has all the pieces of Firestarter: a plucky superhuman kid on the run from shady government forces; a sinister conspiracy trying to wipe her out; a sense of dread, constantly looking over one shoulder.
In fact, Firestarter‘s villain would make a perfect addition to Carrie season 2. Tracking down those pesky telekinetic kids sounds like a job for John Rainbird, the relentless bounty hunter that went after Charlie McGee in Firestarter. Rainbird is one of King’s most underrated villains, and he’s never been done justice on-screen, but trust Flanagan to find the right actor to bring this Native American Anton Chigurh to life.
Your Rating
Discover more from NAIRAVOICE.COM.NG
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
