AMC's The Talamasca Series Needs To Be a Completely Original Story

The Talamasca is the latest in AMC's Immortal Universe, and the first to not be based directly on Anne Rice's books.

By Nicole Drum

AMC's Immortal Universe has been doing something that fans of late author Anne Rice have been hoping for for years: bringing to life on the small screen the iconic characters and stories from both Rice's The Vampire Chronicles with the acclaimed series Interview With the Vampire and The Lives of the Mayfair Witches trilogy with Mayfair Witches. With the network having the rights to18 of Rice's works, the network has been clear about wanting to fully explore the rich and beloved world the author created and earlier this year made good on that with the announcement of a third series based on her work, The Talamasca. Centering around the mysterious organization that observes, studies, and tracks the supernatural, The Talamasca is the first series in AMC's Immortal Universe that doesn't have a series of books or even a single novel to take its basis from. Instead, the series appears to be heading into almost uncharted, original territory — and it needs to continue to be something original as it expands Rice's legacy on the small screen.

When it comes to the existing Immortal Universe series — Interview With the Vampire and Mayfair Witches — they both draw heavily on their source material, but with mixed result. Both series make major changes to the books and stories they are based upon. In the case of Interview With the Vampire, the changes are in many ways cosmetic — a setting change in terms of timeline, some shifts to the characters in appearance and age — but fundamentally the story remains intact and appears to be continuing in that vein of hewing close to Rice's work for the upcoming third season which will take on The Vampire Lestat and, to much fan delight, see Rockstar Lestat come alive off the page.

With Mayfair Witches, however, it's a bit different. The series' first season saw the elimination of a key character from the novels — Michael Curry — in favor of an original character, Ciprien Grieve, that functions as sort of a combination of two characters instead, allowing for the introduction of the Talamasca along with the catalyst for Lasher to be unleashed to the world and while details about Season 2 have been few, what we have seen seems to suggest that the story will continue down a path that diverges from The Witching Hour as well.

It's that departure from the source material that also creates a bit of a departure in terms of what viewers understand of the Talamasca at this point in the shared universe, and in turn, creates both the necessity for The Talamasca series to be original and the space for it to do so. In Mayfair Witches, the Talamasca agents are presented as being a bit more directly involved in things rather than being simply observers operating as secretive scholars. We see that a bit more in the second season of Interview With the Vampire as well, with the introduction of the canonical character Raglan James, who is seen interfering with Daniel Molloy's second interview of Louis de Pointe du Lac. These direct interventions counter to how the Talamasca is presented in Rice's novels. In the books, the Talamasca has a motto, "We watch and we are always here" and it is strongly implied that their role is to observe but they are not to officially involve themselves in the. matters of the supernatural (though, read the books long enough and you'll see that staying out of things doesn't always work out as intended.) With the Immortal Universe having already set up a Talamasca that functions a bit differently than it does in the books, AMC has set itself up to create a space to tell stories that don't have to adhere to what Rice established and, in doing so, offers an opportunity to expand into some of the corners of her world that fans of the books have had to flesh out for themselves through their own imaginings for decades.

This isn't to say that The Talamasca shouldn't honor what Rice created; Rice created a rich and complex world for her characters to exist in and there are some key characters that should certainly be introduced in AMC's series. Characters like David Talbot, Aaron Lightner, and even Merrick Mayfair all are key players in other facets of Rice's world and should have a place in the series as its story unfolds. But by leaning into new characters and stories, The Talamasca has the opportunity to go further in what it explores and its structure.  Its lead character, Guy Anatole (played by Nicholas Denton) is an original creation and, based on the description provided when casting was announced, it sounds like there's possibility for a monster-of-the-week type story format along with a bit of intrigue not unlike a political thriller. Leaning into something more original — and potentially with a monster-of-the-week format we don't get in the other series — The Talamasca also provides an avenue to explore creatures that Rice has touched on in other books but may not directly be part of the books AMC has rights to — things like ghosts, mummies, and more — by creating wholly original stories. After all, if witches and vampires exist, what's to say that there aren't other creatures among us in this world Rice created?

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By already having deviated from Rice's books in its overall approach to the Talamasca in Mayfair Witches and by digging into an organization that is, fundamentally, a side player in Rice's overall works, AMC has a real opportunity to build something unique and give fans of both existing Immortal Universe shows as well as the beloved author's work something new to enjoy without the sky-high expectations that true adaptations come with. With new characters, the careful incorporation of touchstone canonical characters from Rice's work, and even an expansion of the kinds of supernatural that the organization deals with, The Talamasca, by being a true original would not only enhance the existing Immortal Universe shows but also do what every good adaptation and franchise built from an adaptation does: honor the work its world builder started when she first gave us Louis and Lestat.

Season 2 of Anne Rice's Mayfair Witches is expected in 2025. Season 3 of Interview With the Vampire is in the works. Production on The Talamasca is expected to kick off this fall.

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