The Conjuring Universe is heading into its endgame—September’s final Conjuring film is literally subtitled Last Rites—but it won’t be borrowing a page from Avengers: Endgame to assemble all the monsters we’ve met in its movies since 2013. However, and amazingly, that was actually briefly considered at one point.
In a new Entertainment Weekly feature that highlights The Conjuring: Last Rites but also serves as a look back at the franchise as a whole, Last Rites director Michael Chaves—who also helmed The Curse of La Llorona, The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It, and The Nun II—spoke about the brainstorming sessions that informed the fourth Conjuring film starring Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson as Lorraine and Ed Warren.
“Even as we were developing it, we were throwing a bunch of ideas out: ‘How shamelessly big can we make it?’ ‘How epic can we make it?’ ‘Is this the culmination of all the demons coming to face them?” Chaves told EW. The magazine added that “he admits the team briefly entertained the idea of about a dozen Doctor Strange portals opening to reveal every Conjuring entity assembled together for an endgame of sorts” before deciding to go in a more emotional, personal direction.
Ok. We understand that Lorraine and Ed’s bond is the heart of the Conjuring series. These two have stuck together despite being routinely imperiled by supernatural horrors galore. But imagine for just a moment that series creator James Wan, an executive producer on Last Rites, had decided to bid farewell to the Conjuring with a giant monsterpalooza?
The Nun and Annabelle would obviously be leading the charge, but you could also include the beasties who were introduced throughout the series as potential spin-off characters that never came to be, most notably the Crooked Man from The Conjuring 2. While the movie was very eager to set that scenario up, as executive producer Peter Safran tells EW, a stronger contender won out in the end.
“We thought the Crooked Man was basically going to be the Annabelle for Conjuring 2,” Safran told EW—but “when the audiences saw the movie, they wanted to know more about the nun. That’s what they gravitated toward.”
The Crooked Man won’t be returning for that not-to-be Endgame showdown that will forever live rent-free in horror fans’ minds, but Wan hasn’t given up completely. “I still have a movie in my head that I would hopefully love to get off the ground one day, but we’ll see,” he told EW.
“I get fans that reach out to me every now and then, begging us to make a Crooked Man movie. Just as a fan, I would love to do it one day, if I can convince the studio to do so.” We’re begging you now, James Wan: mega-monster crossover movie. You have the power! Make it happen!
The Conjuring: Last Rites hits theaters September 5. Head to EW to read plot details and more about the Conjuring Universe.
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