‘Halloween’ Sequel Director Details How Michael Myers Has Changed Since Original Film

When the killer Michael Myers debuted in 1978’s Halloween, audiences knew very little about the character, other than he had murderous motivations. Subsequent sequels introduced a number of new character traits and exposition, though this year’s sequel will ignore all of those details and tap into what made the first film so terrifying. Director and co-writer David Gordon Green detailed the ways in which he brought the character back to his roots of the first film.

“Michael Myers hasn’t evolved as a character in any way, shape or form [since 1978]; he’s the essence of evil,” Green shared with the L.A. Times. “He has no character. He has no personality. He has no interests. He never has. He’s someone that is moving forward and reacting to the world around him, but not with any sort of conscious objective. And how the world around him reacts to his behavior is where our story comes to life.”

The original film saw a young Myers kill his sister on Halloween night, resulting in getting locked up in a mental institution. 15 years later, Myers escaped and returned to his hometown of Haddonfield, Illinois, resuming his path of violence.

By the time the film ended, audiences were left with as many questions as they had when the film started, as the story never revealed what incited this violence. The follow-up film, Halloween II, revealed that Myers was actually the long-lost brother of Laurie Strode, played by Jamie Lee Curtis. This detail offered more insight into why Laurie was targetted, but that film was meant to kill Myers off for good so that the franchise could explore other avenues with subsequent sequels.

Unfortunately, the first, and only, film in the series to omit Michael Myers, Halloween III: Season of the Witch, perplexed fans who had expected to see Myers resume his murderous mayhem. Further films had to explain how the killer could regularly survive seemingly fatal injuries and continue his reign of terror.

Halloween 5 introduced the Cult of Thorn, as a man in black followed closely behind Myers’ actions, ultimately freeing him from jail in the film’s final moments. The next film expanded on this character, explaining that Michael Myers is powered by the Curse of Thorn, granting him supernatural strength and healing abilities.

With this new sequel, Green is clearly making a much more mysterious Michael Myers, with the film’s first trailer even confirming that the character is no longer related to Laurie.

Check out the new Halloween when it lands in theaters on October 19th.

Are you disappointed with the filmmakers making Michael more mysterious? Let us know in the comments below or hit up @TheWolfman on Twitter to talk all things horror and Star Wars!

[H/T L.A. Times]