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Chucky creator on gay character Jake and boyfriend Devon in season two

The boys are heading to a Catholic reform school - an "institution that officially rejects them," explains screenwriter Dan Mancini

By Jamie Tabberer

Chucky
Chucky (SyFy)

Chucky creator Don Mancini has teased the return of the horror TV hit – and the storyline involving gay characters Jake and Devon.

Zackary Arthur plays teenage boy Jake Wheeler on the hit SyFy show, about a killer doll first seen in 1988 film Child’s Play, while Björgvin Arnarson plays his boyfriend Devon.

In a new interview, Mancini, who is gay, reveals that much of the new season takes place at a Catholic reform school.

“An institution that officially rejects them”

– Don Mancini

Speaking to SFX, he said: “Being able to put Chucky in that world – Chucky with priests and nuns and Chucky in a mass, in confession, intersecting all of that stuff, that was really a lot of fun. I think that people will get a kick out of that.”

Mancini, who wrote the screenplay for the original Chucky film and many since, continued: “Of course [when Jake and Devon arrive] they know that Catholics are not exactly down with the gays and how does that affect their relationship when they are now stuck in an institution that officially rejects them, officially tells them that they’re wrong.”

In the interview, Mancini also discussed Chucky and Tiffany’s genderfluid child, Glen/Glenda, played by Chilling Adventures of Sabrina actor Lachlan Watson, who is nonbinary.

“I love hearing from queer kids, gay kids, trans kids telling me how much Glen/Glenda meant to them. So to be able to explore those characters again, and pick up where they might be in their lives now, it’s been really fun, challenging and interesting. And Lachlan, as I said, is just the perfect performer to do this.”

Chucky season 2 premieres on Wednesday, 5 October 2022.