James Wan cut loose and went wild with this year’s HBO Max offering Malignant, a film that introduced Wan’s most bizarre horror villain to date. I of course won’t spoil anything for anyone who hasn’t yet gotten around to seeing Malignant, but the film’s reveal of precisely who and what “Gabriel” is was one of this year’s most wonderfully bonkers treats for horror fans.
So will Gabriel ever return for a sequel? Wan’s movies tend to spawn sequels, and in a new chat with Screen Rant this week, Malignant‘s star notes that a follow-up is on the table.
At the very least, “conversations” are happening…
Annabelle Wallis, who plays the film’s central character Madison Mitchell, tells the site, “There’s plenty of ideas swirling around. We were very, very flattered by the reception and I think taken aback by the reception. So yeah, there’s lots of conversations happening.”
Speaking with Bloody Disgusting this past September, meanwhile, Wan himself noted that he’s not sure if he’ll ever again get the freedom to make a crazy movie like Malignant.
Wan told BD’s Meagan Navarro, “I went out to do something original that wasn’t based on an IP, but still be inspired by all the stuff that I love, all those influences that I have in my life and hark back to the movies that I broke out with at the start of my career. I wanted to go back and make a movie for the fans, for the horror fans, the hardcore horror fans that have been around that have supported me and said, “Hey, I haven’t forgotten you guys because I’m one of you guys,” and I want to go back and do something like that again.”
“And listen, I don’t know when I’ll ever get the chance to do something as crazy and outrageous as this again, so I’ll take this opportunity,” Wan added at the time.
Perhaps Wan will pass the baton over to another filmmaker to make a Malignant sequel? Nothing is officially happening at this time, but we’ll keep you posted if we hear anything more.