Malignant 2 Would be Redundant

Malignant should probably be kept as a singular movie, but it’s fair to think that this isn’t what Warner Bros. has in mind since it sounds as though a second movie might be on the way. One of the biggest problems with this is that one has to wonder, REALLY wonder, how the second movie will top the first, and what will be different. It’s already been established that the villain is a part of the protagonist since they inhabit the same body. Plus, there’s the fact that as a sentient tumor, or twin, however, one wants to look at it, the heroine of the story has to be vigilant at all times to keep her murderous twin from emerging again to keep murdering people. Even James Wan, the director of this movie, made it known that this movie was only meant to be a single feature and that there was no plan, in his mind, to keep going with it. But of course, as it usually happens, the studios have far more control over this than anyone else, and producers are usually going to have the final say. 

Bringing Malignant back for a sequel, however, feels like a seriously bad idea since trying to think of how to keep this thing rolling would involve Madison and Sydney with the focus on keeping the monster in Madison’s head quiet is kind of troubling. Granted, there’s always a way to push a story, but to avoid people talking about how the story went downhill, it’s often best to go with the best ending and call it good. Too many movies have come up with a moderate to great ending that has been ruined by a sequel that leads to another sequel, then another one, until it becomes a joke that can’t be taken back or explained away any longer. In other words, the story is ruined by the fact that it’s been forced to stick around. 

Some folks would argue that this is a narrow view of how horror movies and sequels work and that it’s a lack of faith in how people respond to these movies that would incite such a belief. But the truth is that while every story needs the chance to be told, there are times when once the story is told that it’s time to move on and leave the story behind, to be enjoyed again and again by those that are willing to sit down and watch more than once. This is one of those movies that needs to be allowed to rest after the initial movie, especially since it went as far as it needed to explain the story. A sequel feels like it would be an unneeded and unwanted add-on that will be released to see how strong of a story this actually is. What’s unfortunate is that the producers might end up finding that this story isn’t strong enough to warrant a great sequel. This is when the frustration starts to build since the idea of building on top of established tales instead of embracing new ideas and pushing them in a manner that might create new, successful franchises.

The risk behind this, as it’s been stated more than once, is what tends to keep a lot of great ideas from becoming a visible representation of said ideas that might become a successful movie, or franchise, in the future. That excuse has become less and less effective as an excuse over the years, however, especially since the sequels and original movies that have been hyped and then released over the last few decades have made it clear that the ideas that are pushed aren’t always the best. Malignant 2 could very easily be one of the many sequels that might sound like a good idea to the studio but could be a serious flop when it reaches the fans. One thing that people should be thinking about at this point is the fact that while Malignant hasn’t been downplayed in such a big way, it still hasn’t been lauded as one of the absolute best horror movies to come along in the past several years. To be fair, it wasn’t a horrible movie, but it wasn’t as groundbreaking as some might think it was. 

There are times for sequels and times when it’s better just to accept that the initial movie was good enough to carry itself. Warner Bros. obviously doesn’t think that way since they’re already ready and willing to push this idea and give the people yet another sequel that’s bound to be hyped just enough to make it look appealing, even if the overall story is bound to be less than convincing. The manner in which Hollywood works is a bit frustrating at times, especially when it comes to creating sequels that aren’t really needed.