Chucky creator Don Mancini has explained why the army of Chucky dolls teased in season 1 isn’t a hive mind. Mancini wrote the screenplay for the 1988 supernatural slasher Child’s Play, the first movie in the Child’s Play franchise, and the first on-screen appearance of murderous doll Chucky. The movie was a moderate box office success, grossing just over $44 million against a production budget of around $10 million. The movie spawned six sequels: Child’s Play 2, Child’s Play 3, Bride of Chucky, Seed of Chucky, Curse of Chucky, and Cult of Chucky, as well as a 2019 remake entitled Child’s Play.
Mancini wrote all of the original movies, as well as directing Seed, Curse, and Cult of Chucky. In 2021, the 58-year-old created the aptly-named TV show spin-off Chucky, which was developed by Syfy and USA Network. The show has proven popular since premiering in October of this year, receiving critical acclaim across its eight-episode run and was recently renewed for a season 2, which is set to premiere in 2022. Chucky season 1 ended with the tease of an army of Chucky dolls ready to wreak havoc across the country, after the villainous doll’s plans to lure Jake to the dark side failed.
Speaking in an interview with Bloody Disgusting, Mancini discussed the success of the show, and his future plans for the franchise. When asked about this new Chucky army, the creator teased potential plans for season 2, and explained how the horde of dolls operates. Mancini explained that the Chucky army wasn’t a “hive mind,” since he found the idea of multiple Chucky identities much more interesting. Read his comments below:
“It’s definitely not a hive mind. I considered both avenues when I started putting this together. It started in Cult of Chucky because we did three Chuckys there or actually four if you count the head that Andy had. It’s something that I wanted to do for a while … It was important that they not have a hive mind because I think it’s more interesting to do this and, again, turn Brad on subtle variations of the Chucky persona. On a lot of fronts, that’s something we were doing a lot of in this season of Chucky, which is dissecting the persona of Chucky and the persona of Charles Lee Ray. We have many different versions of that in the season and many different actors playing Charles Lee Ray or Chucky.”
![Child’s Play Creator Explains Why Chucky’s Army Isn’t A Hive Mind](https://static1.srcdn.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/Chucky-TV-Show-Childs-Play-2.jpg)
It seems Mancini put a lot of thought into how his horde of Chuckies would come about, and how they would function in the story of Chucky season 2. The director explained that the idea for a Chuky army came about simply from the “irrestible” visual it would create, but ultimately realised that the concept offered countless narrative avenues, too. Since the Chucky/Child’s Play franchise is now in its fourth decade, it’s understandable that Mancini is looking for new and inventive ways to keep the saga fresh and exciting, and a surprise return of multiple murderous Good Guy dolls certainly does the trick.
How many seasons Chucky might run for is anyone’s guess at this point, but it is clear that this is still a hugely popular franchise, and one that has the potential to evolve for a modern audience. The diversity and LGBTQ+ representation in the program have already received high praise, and these have likely played a big role in its success so far. With Chucky season 2 now on the horizon, Mancini has a chance to explore the groundwork he laid in the show’s first installment, further developing a new generation of Chucky victims. Going into Chucky season 2, this army of Chuckies certainly raises the stakes and seems to make the iconic killer doll more dangerous than ever.