The Thing sequel: John Carpenter on possibly revisiting the classic sci-fi horror

Based on the 1938 novella Who Goes There? by John W. Campbell Jr., John Carpenter’s The Thing revolved around a group of American researchers in Antarctica who encounter a parasitic extraterrestrial life-form that it able to assimilate and imitate other organisms. Filled to the brim with paranoia, Carpenter’s film is a masterclass in tension and is easily one of my favourite horror movies. Of course, The Thing has already received a sequel/remake over a decade ago (which was really a prequel) but John Carpenter could still see himself returning for more.

While speaking with Fandom, John Carpenter was asked which of his movies that he’d like to revisit for a sequel. “Maybe The Thing. Maybe Prince of Darkness,” Carpenter said. “I can see a little bit more of that. But we’ll see. You never know in this business. You really don’t.” As for how Carpenter would approach a sequel to The Thing, he would only say that both Kurt Russell and Keith David are still alive.

Oh, man. Well [clears throat], I just think there’s another bit of a story to tell there, which I’m not going to tell you about. But there have been some discussions about The Thing and what we could do because, as far as we know, both those two main characters – Childs [Keith David] and MacReady [Kurt Russell] — are still alive. They were alive at the end of The Thing, so maybe they’re still alive.

If John Carpenter is involved, I’d certainly be curious to see what sort of beast The Thing sequel could be, but the original movie is damn near perfect. The ending in particular is ambiguous in the best way possible, with a dozen different theories only fueling its mystique. I fear that any sequel to The Thing would do away with that.

There has been talk that Blumhouse Productions is working on a reboot of The Thing that John Carpenter may or may not be involved with. During a panel for the Fantasia International Film Festival in 2020, John Carpenter said that Blumhouse’s Jason Blum was “gonna be working on The Thing…rebooting The Thing. I may be involved with that. Maybe. Down the road.” Assuming all the original creative talent is involved, how would you feel about a sequel to The Thing?