Mike Flanagan’s Carrie has a secret tie to Stephen King’s other IP
Mike Flanagan’s series-length Carrie drops quiet clues toward a bigger Stephen King universe he’s chased for years — nudging a long-sought destination tantalisingly closer than you might expect.
Right, Mike Flanagan is back at it, this time taking on Stephen King’s Carrie — but if you reckon you know what to expect, think again. Flanagan’s reputation is already built on spooky, clever slow-burners, but in his Prime Video version of Carrie, he’s not just doing another spin on King’s classic. He’s planting proper links to a much bigger Stephen King universe, one he’s always seemed rather keen to play in.
Unlike the umpteen Carrie adaptations we’ve had, this one goes full serial — not just in the sense of "TV series" but actually plotting to thread the story into King’s wider multiverse. Now, bear with, because this gets very "King nerd" quite quickly.
Not Just Another Carrie
Let’s start with the obvious — Summer H. Howell is front and centre as Carrie, and the essence is all there: a loner, bullied, wielding unexplained powers (this time, pointedly labelled ‘the shine’, just to underline the King connections). She’s not alone. There’s Emaline — played by Thalia Dudek — a friend who’s either imaginary or an astral projection, but crucially, one who shares this psychic ability. If that’s already ringing bells for you (The Institute, Firestarter, take your pick), you’re not wrong. Flanagan wants us to notice.
And then there’s the shadowy documentary crew. Lead by an unnamed filmmaker (Kate Siegel), they start sniffing around the aftermath of the infamous high school massacre. This lot aren’t your average news vultures, either — they’re calmly nudging Margaret toward her end, and seem to be actively hunting down Carrie. Meanwhile, Carrie and Emaline are on the run, heading for what they hope is safety, though in King-land, that’s probably wishful thinking.
Building The King-verse
What’s genuinely interesting is how Flanagan is quietly setting up threads that tie Carrie right back to The Dark Tower mythos, tying the show to things like the ‘shine’ and the sort of psychic communities and hunters that crop up throughout King. Even the documentary team feels like a callback — Flanagan’s already shown he likes these nomadic ‘seekers’ in his Doctor Sleep adaptation.
In Flanagan’s own words to TV Insider: "The beautiful thing about Stephen King is that the connections between the universe that he’s built are some of the most fun, as lovers of Stephen King, that you get to make those connections... I do think this all exists on a certain level of the Tower, and Carrie’s place in that bigger world is something he hints at very much in the book. It was really exciting for us to be able to do that in practice and to really go into that."
Flanagan’s leaving the door well and truly open for more. He’s still developing his adaptation of The Dark Tower, so it wouldn’t be at all surprising if this new Carrie is laying proper groundwork. Don’t be shocked if we end up seeing some familiar faces — or at least familiar powers — crossing over between shows in a way that’s never been done in a Stephen King project before.
Flanagan says he "hopes" to keep expanding this world, hinting that Carrie’s story could quite literally feed into his bigger Dark Tower plans.