Mike Flanagan’s ‘Carrie’ Will Introduce More Telekinetic Characters
One of the biggest surprises to come out of Entertainment Weekly’s extensive first look at Mike Flanagan‘s upcoming Carrie series isn’t the casting, the first images, or even the October 2026 release window.
It’s the revelation that Flanagan isn’t simply retelling Stephen King‘s classic novel.
He’s expanding it.
According to EW, the 8-episode Prime Video series will introduce multiple women from different time periods who possess telekinetic abilities, dramatically broadening the mythology established in King’s original 1974 novel.
“Stephen King also talks about the ‘TK gene’ [for telekinesis] and the science behind Carrie’s abilities,” Flanagan says. “Something that the De Palma adaptation ignored was Carrie’s place in the larger universe, that she’s part of a sorority of very gifted women and just doesn’t know it. The book absolutely points at that, but that was something we could pick up and run with.”
Beginning with episode 2, each installment of the season will, according to the showrunner, open with “a different, unique story of a different woman, somewhere else in the world and in time, coming to terms with their own abilities.” He notes, “Carrie’s specific place among that group of women is part of the real joy that we get to discover over the course of the season.”
It’s a fascinating creative decision, and one that makes perfect sense for television.
Rather than attempting to remake Brian De Palma‘s beloved 1976 adaptation, Flanagan has repeatedly said he wanted to create something new. As he told EW, “The movie exists, and it’s a masterpiece.”
Instead of competing with one of horror’s most celebrated films, Flanagan appears to be asking a different question entirely: What if Carrie White wasn’t the only person this ever happened to?
Misfit high‑schooler Carrie White (Summer Howell) has spent her life hidden away inside the walls of her home with her fiercely protective mother, Margaret (Samantha Sloyan). After her father’s sudden, untimely death thrusts her into the unforgiving ecosystem of public high school, Carrie is forced to navigate a viral bullying scandal that tears through her community, the relentless pressure and casual cruelty of the social‑media age, and the awakening of mysterious telekinetic powers that rise alongside her adolescence.
Samantha Sloyan (The Fall of the House of Usher), Siena Agudong (Resident Evil), Alison Thornton (School Spirits), Thalia Dudek (The Irrational), Josie Totah (Saved by the Bell), Arthur Conti (House of the Dragon), Joel Oulette (Trickster), Amber Midthunder (Prey), and Matthew Lillard (Scream) also star.
Flanagan serves as writer, showrunner, executive producer, and directs select episodes.
Whether this expanded mythology ultimately works remains to be seen, but one thing is already clear: this isn’t just another adaptation of Carrie. It’s shaping up to be the boldest reinterpretation of Stephen King’s first novel we’ve seen in nearly 50 years.
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