There are certain horror franchises that never really leave us, and The Exorcist is obviously one of them. William Friedkin’s 1973 classic remains one of the most important horror films ever made, so whenever someone announces another trip into that universe, fans are going to have questions.
Mike Flanagan is the latest filmmaker taking a swing at it with The Exorcist: Martyrs, and this time around, things are taking a noticeably different route. Rather than trying to remake the original or simply revisit the same possession story, Flanagan is building a new story inside the Exorcist universe.
That distinction matters, especially after The Exorcist: Believer.
There was plenty to like about The Exorcist: Believer when it arrived in 2023. Bringing Ellen Burstyn back as Chris MacNeil was the obvious connection to the original, while Linda Blair‘s surprise return as Regan MacNeil gave longtime fans an even deeper link to the 1973 classic. It was a nice nod to the franchise’s history, though plenty of fans wanted far more from the original cast. The first act had us interested and wondering where the story was headed. By the time we reached the final stretch, things started getting a little weird and, honestly, more than a little eye-rolling.
The planned trilogy ultimately never happened, leaving the franchise in an interesting place. Now Mike Flanagan has the opportunity to take The Exorcist somewhere else entirely, and from everything we’ve seen so far, Martyrs isn’t interested in simply repeating what came before.
Scarlett Johansson Leads The New Story
Scarlett Johansson stars as Julie Miller, an NYPD homicide detective and single mother raising her 12-year-old son, Max, played by Jacobi Jupe. Julie’s job already keeps her away from home, and the investigation at the center of the film is about to make that balance even harder.
Julie becomes involved in the case of Father Sunday, played by John Leguizamo, a serial killer whose murders are staged around the martyrdom of Catholic saints. She witnesses his execution, but something goes very wrong during the proceedings.
That is where the familiar Exorcist territory begins creeping into what initially sounds like a crime thriller.
WATCH THE TEASER FOR THE EXORCIST: MARTYRS BELOW
A Serial Killer Story With An Exorcist Problem
One of the more interesting things about Martyrs is the way Flanagan appears to be approaching the material. The movie starts with a homicide investigation, a killer and a detective trying to understand what she’s dealing with. From there, the supernatural elements begin pushing their way into Julie’s world.
Chiwetel Ejiofor plays Father William, a prison chaplain dealing with his own crisis of faith, while Laurence Fishburne plays a mysterious priest with knowledge of ancient rituals. Sasha Calle also stars as fellow homicide detective Gina Restrepo.
Flanagan has been very clear that this isn’t an attempt to remake Friedkin’s film or reboot the franchise again. It’s a new story taking place within the Exorcist universe, which gives the filmmaker considerably more room to play.
Detective Miller (Johansson) works alongside fellow NYPD homicide detective Gina Restrepo, played by Sasha Calle.
The Cast Is Stacked
Johansson, Ejiofor, Fishburne, Calle, Leguizamo, Lane and Jupe already make for an impressive lineup, but Flanagan has also filled the supporting cast with plenty of familiar faces from his previous work.
Rahul Kohli, Hamish Linklater, Gil Bellows, Carl Lumbly, Robert Longstreet, Matt Biedel, Samantha Sloyan, Kate Siegel, John Gallagher Jr., Benjamin Pajak and Carla Gugino are all part of the film.
For anyone who has followed Flanagan’s work over the years, that list alone is enough to get our attention.
Even Flanagan’s Cast Says It’s Scary
John Leguizamo’s killer—who was known by the criminal pseudonym “Father Sunday”—awaits his fate.
Samantha Sloyan, who has worked with Flanagan across projects including The Haunting of Hill House, Midnight Mass and The Fall of the House of Usher, has a small role in Martyrs. After seeing some of the film from the monitor, she called it the scariest thing she’s seen him make.
That is an interesting comment coming from someone who has spent plenty of time inside Flanagan’s particular brand of horror.
Flanagan himself has also said his goal was to make an Exorcist movie that gives fans something they haven’t seen before rather than simply returning to familiar territory.
In a recent interview with Esquire, Flanagan puts it plainly:
“We wanted very much for this to stand on its own two legs, encapsulating a brand-new plotline with brand-new characters,” Flanagan says. There still might be connective threads back to the classic elements of The Exorcist, but for now those are surprises for the movie itself to reveal.”
Every story in this world needs a priest or two, and this one has a new padre: Father William, who is played by Chiwetel Ejiofor.
When Does THE EXORCIST: MARTYRS Come Out?
The Exorcist: Martyrs arrives in theaters March 12, 2027, from Universal Pictures.
There is still plenty we don’t know, and that’s probably a good thing. The teaser has given us pieces of the puzzle without explaining how they fit together, while the cast and premise suggest we’re getting something that sits somewhere between a homicide investigation, religious horror and the supernatural world established by the franchise.
After Believer, we’re certainly curious to see where this one goes.
Flanagan has a pretty strong horror résumé, and The Exorcist is one hell of a universe to step into. Now we get to see whether Martyrs can give longtime fans something new without forgetting why we fell in love with the original in the first place.
