Stephen King is famous for his scary characters, and one of the first he created remains his most memorable.
For over fifty years, this horror writer has created terrifying creatures like Pennywise and Randall Flagg, but some of their most unsettling villains are actually people whose wickedness is truly frightening.
Stephen King launched his career in 1974 with his debut novel, which explored how a teenager’s developing telekinetic abilities intertwined with the religious mistreatment she faced at home. Now, over five decades later, the story’s main antagonist is being re-examined in a completely new light.
The new Carrie series coming to Prime Video will offer a different take on Margaret White, Carrie’s mother. Instead of portraying her as purely fanatical and abusive – as she’s been shown in past versions, famously by Piper Laurie in the 1976 film – the series will establish that Samantha Sloyan’s character actually loves her daughter.
At San Diego Comic-Con, series creator Mike Flanagan told ScreenRant’s Ash Crossan that the show’s eight-episode length gave him the freedom to rework Stephen King’s well-known story in surprising ways. This means viewers will see new takes on characters like Carrie and Margaret, different from how they’ve been depicted in the book and other adaptations. You can find Flanagan’s full explanation below.
This project gave me a unique chance: to deconstruct a Stephen King story down to its core components and then create something entirely new with them. That’s the kind of adaptation I enjoy most, and it’s something I haven’t often been able to do – only really with Hill House and Usher.
This isn’t the Carrie White you’ve seen before – not in the book, and not in any previous movies or shows. And our version of her mother, Margaret White, is also completely different from what Stephen King originally imagined. We’re deliberately subverting expectations, taking familiar elements and twisting them into something surprising, and that’s what made this project so exciting and enjoyable for me. It quickly became one of my favorite things I’ve ever worked on.
Sloyan explained that Margaret will start the series as a very protective mother, determined to do what she thinks is best for Carrie. But as things change and she faces new challenges, her love will slowly transform, ultimately leading her down the path to becoming the character viewers already know and fear.
As a film fan, what really struck me about Margaret’s character is her love for Carrie – that’s genuinely where her story begins. It felt like we were reaching the same destination as other interpretations, but through a completely fresh route. We get to witness why she makes the choices she does, starting from a place of deep affection and wanting what’s best for Carrie. Seeing how that initial love evolves, gets twisted by events, and ultimately leads her to where she ends up was just fascinating.
Just because Margaret loves Carrie doesn’t mean she isn’t still a threat. Stephen King often examines how love can turn frightening, as seen in Pet Sematary, where a father’s grief and desire to protect his family drive him to make terrible decisions. In the same way, Margaret’s wish to keep Carrie safe could slowly transform into the controlling behavior that defined the original story.
I’ve been a huge fan of Mike Flanagan’s work ever since The Haunting of Hill House. He’s amazing at taking classic stories, like Edgar Allan Poe’s work in The Fall of the House of Usher, and building something completely new and original on top of them. He doesn’t just adapt things, he really reimagines them!
Summer H. Howell plays Carrie White in the film, which also features Sloyan, Siena Agudong, Amber Midthunder, Matthew Lillard, Alison Thornton, Joel Oulette, Arthur Conti, and Josie Totah.
Carrie will debut on Prime Video in October 2026.
2026-07-26 05:28