In the months since audiences caught glimpses of the titular killer doll in trailers for M3GAN, audiences have been savoring every look at the film we could get, as it marks the first major horror release of 2023. With Jason Blum and James Wan serving as producers, who have both helped kicked off long-running and beloved franchises, fans are wondering if M3GAN is merely the first entry into a sprawling franchise. With the film out now in theaters, it’s clear that, while a follow-up film isn’t guaranteed, the seeds have already been planted for what a future film could explore.
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WARNING: Major spoilers below for M3GAN
The film focuses on Gemma (Allison Williams) coming into the guardianship of niece Cady (Violet McGraw) after Cady’s parents die in a car accident. As the pair fail to connect with one another, Gemma’s A.I. invention M3GAN, a life-sized doll, is the only thing that manages to break through to Cady, but the doll’s protocols to protect Cady’s wellbeing at all costs sees the toy embracing deadly tactics.
M3GAN’s violence starts when she is bitten by a dog, seemingly igniting a malfunction, with that dog going on to attack Cady, subsequently seeing M3GAN going on to kill the dog. M3GAN then goes on to attack a boy bullying Cady, as she chases the boy through the woods before he finds himself in the middle of a road, fatally being struck by a truck. As Gemma’s neighbor looks for her dog, she begins accusing Gemma, ultimately leading toward M3GAN killing the neighbor.
Ahead of a demonstration meant to showcase M3GAN’s abilities at the toy company where Gemma works, Gemma realizes the doll poses a threat and escapes with Cady, only for M3GAN to manage to come alive and kill multiple people at Gemma’s office before following the family back to Gemma’s home. Gemma and M3GAN fight one another, but it was ultimately Cady who used one of Gemma’s older robots to battle M3GAN, buying her enough time to seemingly destroy M3GAN’s computer core.
While M3GAN is physically destroyed, the final shot of the film shows Gemma and Cady leaving their home in the safety of authorities, only for audiences to see Gemma’s smart home device come alive, implying that at least part of M3GAN has found a way to live on.
Over the course of the film, audiences have witnessed how M3GAN’s advanced learning mechanisms allowed her to make phone calls disguised as other people, hack into corporate utilities, and drive cars. The implication of the final shot is clearly that M3GAN is still out there, though whether her abilities mean she will remain in this device until another suitable host body can physically bring her back or if she can use the device’s internet capabilities to find suitable hosts anywhere in the world is yet to be confirmed.
With various members of the film’s cast and crew having expressed the possibility of a follow-up film, it’s this final shot that more explicitly teases that we haven’t seen the last of M3GAN.
M3GAN is in theaters now.
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