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Mike Flanagan Says The Exorcist: Martyrs Stands Alone While Honoring The Exorcist III
ReMike Flanagan Says The Exorcist: Martyrs Stands Alone While Honoring The Exorcist III
Director Mike Flanagan reveals that his new film The Exorcist: Martyrs is a self-contained story accessible to newcomers, but it contains a thread for superfans that runs back through The Exorcist III to the original 1973 classic.
Director Mike Flanagan has confirmed that his upcoming film The Exorcist: Martyrs is designed to stand on its own, even as it draws heavily from the underappreciated 1990 sequel The Exorcist III. In a trailer breakdown interview at New York Comic Con, Flanagan explained that the new movie is a self-contained story that remains accessible to viewers who have never seen any previous entry in the franchise.
«It is absolutely a self-contained story that is utterly accessible and hopefully thrilling for people who have no knowledge of The Exorcist III, or even frankly of Friedkin's film or Blatty's original novel,» Flanagan said. «It really is its own thing.»
However, the director added that longtime fans will find extra rewards. «There is a thread for the super fans to pick up that runs all the way back through The Exorcist III to Friedkin's original for those who are excited by those things,» he said. That thread includes visual and narrative references that reward close attention.
The first trailer, unveiled at NYCC, opens with Scarlett Johansson's character descending a staircase into a crime scene. Flanagan said the image was chosen deliberately. «If you're talking about The Exorcist and you have a staircase like that, it's kind of a requirement for a genre like this,» he explained. He noted that the shot evokes both the original film's iconic staircase and the poster for The Exorcist III.
Flanagan spoke at length about why The Exorcist III served as the jumping-off point for Martyrs. «The Exorcist III is an awesome movie. It's so underappreciated. Outside of the original, it's my favorite of the franchise,» he said. «It's terrifying, it's sophisticated, it's beautifully acted.»
He credited writer-director William Peter Blatty with pioneering a blend of two subgenres. «Blatty, both in the novel Legion on which it's based, and then in the film which he directed, is starting to play with the synthesis of two subgenres,» Flanagan said. «To harmonize a serial killer investigative thriller with the demonic possession story is something that I think that movie first tries to introduce and gives us a chance to truly run with, and that was irresistible.»
The trailer features numerous references to the Gemini Killer, including crucified victims and specific mutilations. Flanagan confirmed that John Leguizamo plays Rivera, a serial killer whose crime scenes feature a particular religious tableau. Johansson's character, a detective, first encounters Rivera early in her career and sends him away to final justice. But elements of the case recur more than a decade later, when she is a fully established homicide detective and a single mother.
«Elements of that case and of his crime scenes begin to recur in a way that is a bit impossible, that goes beyond what would be possible for a simple copycat,» Flanagan said. The trailer shows Johansson chasing an orange-hooded figure out of her house with a gun, suggesting evil encroaching on her home and family.
Flanagan said that theme of incursion is central to possession stories. «That's kind of at the very heart of every possession story, the incursion of evil onto the human heart, and in this case the human body, into the safety of the family and into innocence itself,» he said.
The director also addressed the question of whether the film will feature «Tubular Bells,» the iconic theme from the original Exorcist. While he did not give a definitive answer in the excerpt, he acknowledged its importance to the franchise's identity.
The Exorcist: Martyrs represents a new attempt to revitalize the horror series after the mixed reception of previous sequel The Exorcist: Believer. Flanagan, known for The Haunting of Hill House and a forthcoming Carrie series, is seen by many as a filmmaker capable of restoring the franchise's prestige. The film is produced by Blumhouse and Morgan Creek, with Universal Pictures distributing.
Flanagan's approach appears to balance standalone accessibility with deep continuity, a strategy that could satisfy both new audiences and devoted fans. The trailer's dense visual references and the director's comments suggest that Martyrs will reward repeated viewings and close analysis.
The Exorcist: Martyrs is scheduled for release in theaters on April 18, 2025.
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