Chucky fans, rejoice! After five movies, two direct-to-video features and a mostly unnecessary restart, your favorite killer doll is back for more carnage. A Chucky TV series is coming to Syfy and the US network (or on Hulu + Live TV and other streaming services for the cable cutters out there) this October.
With a ton of backstory and a cast of characters spanning decades, there’s a lot to be said about the Chucky TV series.
Read on for what we know about Chucky, from the cast, to release details, to franchise continuity and queer representation.
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What is the Chucky TV series about?
The series, simply titled Chucky, picks up where Cult of Chucky 2017 left off. This will be the first television broadcast in the series, which started with Child’s Play in 1988. It’s not a restart or a reinterpretation, but a direct continuation of the seven films in the main franchise.
The Chucky TV series takes on the film franchise’s past, but seems to focus on a new story. When a teenager gets their hands on the infamous, possessed Chucky doll, they must defeat the vicious killer in a race against increasing numbers of corpses.
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“An idyllic American town is thrown into chaos after a vintage ‘Good Guy’ doll shows up in a suburban yard sale,” says the official description of the Syfy series. “Soon everyone faces a series of horrific murders that reveal the deep hypocrisy and hidden secrets of the city. Meanwhile, friends and enemies from Chucky’s past are crawling back into his world and threatening to uncover the truth behind his mysterious origins as a seemingly ordinary child who somehow became this infamous monster. “
While Chucky is focused on Jake and still processing his mother’s death, we know from various announcements that well-known characters will also be back. Andy, Kyle, Tiffany, and Nica will likely be the friends and enemies from his past who will help fill in the blanks in Chucky’s story.
When and where can you see it?
Chucky will arrive in time for Halloween, fittingly.
The series premiere is scheduled for October 12th. It is a cable series that will air at 10 p.m. ET on Syfy and the USA Network. The first season with 10 episodes is broadcast weekly from there on Tuesdays.
However, if you’re not a cable subscriber, you can still stream Chucky online.
If you want to watch Chucky for free, you are usually unlucky. Hulu Live TV, FuboTV, and YouTube TV all offer a week-long free trial so you may be able to schedule your ad accordingly.
Syfy hasn’t ordered a second season of Chucky yet, but creator Don Mancini has stated that he hopes to make more seasons and films to further expand the Chucky universe.
The evolution of Chucky
Chucky has been through a lot since his first appearance on Child’s Play in 1988. In the original film, serial killer Charles Lee Ray became the killer doll we now know as Chucky. Cornered by the police in a toy store, Ray performed a voodoo ritual to transfer his consciousness to one of the popular Good Guys dolls nearby (think Cabbage Patch Kids, but creepier.)
During Child’s Play, Child’s Play 2, and Child’s Play 3, Chucky follows Andy, the boy who gave the doll. He spends the three films taking over his body and living again. The longer he stays in the doll’s body, the closer Chucky gets to being stuck there forever.
In Bride of Chucky, the series turned towards comedy, a tone it maintained in Seed of Chucky, both of whom see Chucky as part of a strange doll family we’re slowly putting down roots for. Then the series returned to its simpler horror roots in Curse of Chucky and Cult of Chucky, with Andy once again hunting for his childhood nightmare as an adult.
Chucky will pick up where Cult of Chucky left off.
There was also an attempt at a franchise reboot in 2019. While this laid back remake of Child’s Play wasn’t bad, it lacked the whimsical charm of Mancini’s work. The Chucky TV series will mark the first return to the original Chucky canon since the 2019 film.
Who is involved in the Chucky TV series?
The four young leading actors in the TV series Chucky are played by Zackary Arthur, Teo Briones, Bjorgvin Arnarson and Alyvia Alyn Lind. All four are new to the Chucky franchise.
Also new to the series is Devon Sawa, who plays a character named Logan Wheeler. While Sawa is new to Chucky, he’s no stranger to horror, having appeared in Final Destination, Idle Hands, and the at least horror-adjoining Casper.
Recurring actors include:
- Brad Dourif, who voiced Chucky in the seven previous films and played Charles Lee Ray, the criminal who owns the original Good Guys doll.
- Jennifer Tilly, who played both herself and Chucky’s wife, Tiffany, with Bride of Chucky in 1998.
- Alex Vincent, who has played Andy, the first owner of Chucky since the original Child’s Play in 1988, returned for Child’s Play 2, Curse of Chucky, and Cult of Chucky.
- Christine Elise, who played Andy’s foster sister Kyle in Child’s Play 2.
- Fiona Dourif, who played Nica in Curse of Chucky and Cult of Chucky and was last seen possessed by Chucky himself.
Behind the camera, the maker of Child’s Play, Don Mancini, works as an executive producer and as a writer and showrunner. He directed the first two episodes. David Kirschner, Nick Antosca, Harley Peyton and Alex Hedlund are also executive producers.
Is the TV series Chucky queer?
Chucky has always been a queer franchise, and the new series is no different. Creator Don Mancini confirms that protagonist Jake Wheeler is a gay teen exploring his sexuality in his conservative small town.
This is a logical extension of the film series’ previous dealings with queer identities, not to mention the fact that Mancini, the head behind it all, is gay himself.
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“Starting with Bride of Chucky, I started to consciously incorporate some LGBTQ elements into the franchise,” said Mancini. Chucky and his bride Tiffany have a child who develops two sexes and goes to both Glen and Glenda in the sequel Seed of Chucky.
In particular, Seed of Chucky became a fan favorite in queer fan circles as early as 2004 for his compassionate and thoughtful portrayal of a character outside of the gender binary characters in several films.
To celebrate Pride Month, Syfy even hosted a “Pride of Chucky” marathon last June with six of the seven Chucky films. The marathon should “draw attention to the LGBTQ + elements of the popular horror series and at the same time cause some summer horrors,” says an accompanying article on Syfy Wire.
What else can we expect from the Chucky TV series?
Chucky could go in so many directions. We know we’re getting a new protagonist who will bring the franchise back to its original childhood focus.
Adding Charles Lee Ray’s origin story to the mix will add depth to the character while sticking to the child-in-danger formula (assume something terrible happened to young Charles to turn him into a monster do).
One big question mark concerns the return of legacy characters. How Much Will Tiffany Include in Chucky’s New Life? And will the army of Chuckies featured in Cult of Chucky reappear, or are we dealing with a lonely Chucky again?
The presence of Fiona Dourif suggests that the Chucky TV series will revisit at least part of that storyline – we last saw her character act as a human host to Chucky at the end of Cult of Chucky in a rather shocking cliffhanger ending.
Additionally, we’ll just have to wait until the scary season to find out more when Chucky premieres on Syfy on October 12th.