Scarlett Johansson kneels beside a motionless man inside a church in ScreenRant’s new official still from Mike Flanagan’s The Exorcist: […]
Scarlett Johansson kneels beside a motionless man inside a church in ScreenRant’s new official still from Mike Flanagan’s The Exorcist: Martyrs. With police tape stretched behind her and officers surrounding the scene, it’s another look at the murder investigation bringing this franchise into some very dark territory.
We’ve already spent quite a bit of time picking apart the trailer, which follows Johansson’s homicide detective Julie Miller into the nightmare surrounding Father Sunday, the serial killer played by John Leguizamo (Land of the Dead). She witnesses his execution, but that apparently doesn’t put an end to the horror. The footage brings together gruesome crime scenes and possession imagery, with shades of Se7en and The Exorcist III.
And that last connection could run considerably deeper.
As we previously explored, fans spotted a KINDERMAN nameplate on Johansson’s police uniform, along with a framed photograph apparently showing George C. Scott’s detective from The Exorcist III. His daughter in that film was named Julie, raising the possibility that Johansson is playing her as an adult. That remains a theory, but it’s a pretty compelling collection of clues.
Then there’s the other photograph, which some viewers believe shows Linda Blair’s Regan MacNeil. The image is difficult to make out, and even identifying Regan wouldn’t confirm a new appearance by Blair. Still, those shelves have given us plenty to talk about.
Flanagan himself has acknowledged discussing The Exorcist III while developing the movie. During his New York Comic Con appearance, he called it “one of the most underrated, underappreciated films in the franchise” and said is the scariest film he’s worked on.
