Chucky Writer Reveals Why Queer Content Is So Important In His Horror Stories - Exclusive
With 1988's "Child's Play," writer and creator Don Mancini created a horror legend in the form of Chucky, a serial killer trapped inside a doll. Having written all six movie sequels, Mancini decided to continue Chucky's story as a TV series, which expands the wisecracking doll's universe even further. Season 3 of "Chucky," which airs Wednesdays on SYFY/USA, takes place in the White House and pits Chucky against his greatest foe yet. Jake and Devon's relationship continues to be central to the new season while the pair faces a renewed terror as they try to stop Chucky's murderous spree.
For Mancini, infusing the "Chucky" TV series with relatable gay characters was essential. In fact, he's responsible for bringing LGBTQ+ representation to the entire franchise, starting with the fourth instalment, 1998's "Bride of Chucky." "It was the first one where there was an explicitly gay character in the story," Mancini tells Looper, "[and] the first one that had a real tangible gay sensibility about it with the camp and some of the casting: Jennifer Tilly, Alexis Arquette, [and] John Ritter."
In an exclusive interview with Looper, Don Mancini tells us that the queer content so important to Chucky and the horror genre comes from a personal place. It's something he has worked to infuse into the stories of Chucky's extended family for decades.
Infusing Chucky with queer stories
"Ever since 'Bride of Chucky,' I've worked hard to bring queer content to the franchise, because that's been important to me as a gay man and a gay creator of stories," Mancini tells Looper. "It's great that we live in a world now, and this is rather different from when we started the franchise in the '80s, where you can depict [queer characters] in a way that simply wasn't done back then. That's really gratifying." With the "Chucky" TV series, Mancini has been able to develop a multitude of queer characters, making the franchise more diverse than ever before.
The romantic relationship between teen characters Devon and Jake is central to the "Chucky" TV series, and that's entirely intentional. "It's so great to be able to provide young gay people points of identification among the characters on our show, because I didn't have that when I was a child, when I was a teenager. I would've loved having that," Mancini explains, "to see an honest and sympathetic portrayal of teenage gay romance."
By focusing on Devon and Jake's relationship, "Chucky" manages to explore a young, queer romance in a realistic way, despite the fact that the characters are constantly haunted by a killer doll. Undoubtedly, Mancini's work to change the "Chucky" franchise for the better has had a huge impact on the horror landscape as a whole.
The midseason finale of "Chucky" airs tonight on USA/SYFY at 9:00 p.m. ET/PT and is available to stream Thursday on Peacock.