Fear Street Director Talks Possibility of Creating an MCU-Style Horror Universe For Netflix

July 19, 2021

Following the success of the Fear Street trilogy, fans are definitely eager to hear some good news regarding the potential development of more sequels for director Leigh Janiak’s coming-of-age horror films, especially when the third installment, Fear Street Part 3: 1666 ended with an intriguing mid-credits scene. In a recent interview with IndieWire, Janiak has finally opened up about the future of the horror franchise, teasing that there are indeed more Shadyside stories left to tell.

The rising horror filmmaker went on to share that she believes that Netflix’s Fear Street trilogy has the potential to expand into an MCU-style horror universe. She hopes that with the fans’ support and response, the Fear Street franchise could be able to transform into different kinds of projects including a TV adaptation.

“One of the exciting things about ‘Fear Street’ is the fact that the universe is big and allows for a lot of space,” Janiak said. “One of the things that I talked about before I was hired was that we have a potential here to create a horror Marvel [Cinematic Universe], where you can have slasher killers from lots of different eras. You have the canon of our main mythology that’s built around the fact that the devil lives in Shadyside, so there’s also room for everything else.”

She continued, “I think that my hope is that audiences like it enough that we can start building out [more], we can think about what another trilogy would be, what stand-alones would be, what TV would be. I don’t even think about it like TV or movies exactly anymore. That’s the great thing about Netflix and about what ‘Fear Street’ is, which is kind of a hybrid new thing. I’m excited about the possibility of what else can happen.”

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Based on R.L. Stine’s best-selling horror series, the Fear Street trilogy covers three different time periods of Shadyside: 1994, 1978, and 1666. It follows Shadyside’s sinister history through a nightmare 300 years in the making. In 1994, a group of teenagers discovers that the terrifying events that have haunted their town for generations may all be connected – and that they may be the next targets.

The trilogy stars Kiana Madeira, Olivia Scott Welch, Benjamin Flores Jr., Julia Rehwald, Fred Hechinger, Ashley Zukerman, Gillian Jacobs, Darrell Britt-Gibson, Elizabeth Scopel, Jordana Spiro, Jordyn Dinatale, Sadie Sink, Emily Rudd, Ryan Simpkins, Mccabe Slye, Ted Sutherland, and Maya Hawke.

The Fear Street trilogy is directed and co-written by Leigh Janiak, who was also an executive producer. Producers are Peter Chernin, David Ready, Jenno Topping, Doug Torres, and Jeffrey Harlacker with Kori Adelson, Timothy M, Bourne, Yvonne M. Bernard, Joan Waricha, and Jane Stine set as executive producers.

Part 1: 1994, Part 2: 1978, and Part 3: 1666 are now available for streaming on Netflix.