IT’S ALWAYS INTERESTING to see how different creative people decide to adapt classic, iconic stories that have been adapted before—and how audiences then react to those adaptations. The latest story to find itself under the microscope in that way is Carrie, which first entered the world as Stephen King’s debut novel in 1974 before being adapted into a film three separate times, a stage musical in 1988, and now, in 2026, a television series for Prime Video created by Mike Flanagan. If someone wanted to see a pretty close adaptation of King’s novel—and a masterpiece of a film—then look no further than the Brian De Palma–directed Carrie, which first hit theaters in 1976.
The two other film adaptations, which were released in 2002 and 2013, were not quite as highly revered. Flanagan’s TV series, then, operates on three different levels: bringing the ’70s-set source material into our 2026 world, expanding on characters and subplots from the book that had to be cut from a film but that an eight-episode series has time for, and, finally, doing something entirely new altogether. It’s always going to be the case that some people aren’t going to like that last part.
But in Carrie, Flanagan goes for it, making some major changes to the source material in his adaptation (like keeping Carrie White alive at the end of the story) and bringing things like a cult/coven into the mix. When it comes to making Carrie the TV show, these new aspects to things were kind of the whole point, especially when it came to getting Stephen King on board. It'd already been done,” Flanagan told Men’s Health about working with King, who is also an executive producer on the show.
This could be really different.’” And while the first season of Carrie covers the entire arc of the novel—including, of course, the iconic prom night massacre and its aftermath—it does keep Carrie alive, and introduces a host of powerful new characters who have never been included in the Carrie lore before. (Although we will note that the end of the Carrie novel does suggest that there are others out there with Carrie’s abilities, and that the rest of the world is just going to have to deal with it.) So, does that mean Carrie will continue on for a season 2? Flanagan has said that in an ideal world, his Carrie show would have three seasons. It’s a trilogy, really.” He’s done something very smart in that regard.
The Carrie show, as is, exists as a wonderful retelling and adaptation of King’s original story. But he’s also planted these seeds that allow the Carrie character to continue on with her own story, while also teasing some future characters—including cult leader Adelaide (played by Kate Siegel) and others—who could absolutely figure into things should the story continue. He told Men’s Health that his focus has been exclusively on getting this first season out and rendering it as well as possible.
But that doesn’t mean he hasn’t begun to speculate about what could be fun for the future, either, and that seems to point toward the cult/coven that was teased throughout the season. We only got to see the tip of the iceberg of her place in this legacy of other gifted women, and I think that's where the focus would be. But I've worked in television long enough to know that I shouldn't think too much about that until it's time to.” There’s also the Amanda character as well, played by The Mandalorian and Battlestar Galactica star Katee Sackhoff, who was revealed to be both Emmaline’s mother and some kind of assassin of powered people.
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