The Exorcist: Martyrs trailer links its demon to a real-world horror
In the new film, Scarlett Johansson plays a detective whose past case comes back to haunt her when her own son becomes the target of a demonic force.
Scarlett Johansson is taking on a demonic force in the first trailer for ‘The Exorcist: Martyrs.’ The new film, from acclaimed horror director Mike Flanagan, debuted its first look online on Friday, October 9, after a premiere at New York Comic-Con.
In the trailer, Johansson stars as Julie Miller, a New York City homicide detective investigating a series of gruesome murders. The killings appear to be connected to a satanic serial killer she put away 13 years earlier, a man known as “Father Sunday,” played by John Leguizamo.
As she delves deeper into the case, her 12-year-old son, Max (Jacobi Jupe), becomes the target of a terrifying evil. The trailer culminates with a chilling line that echoes the original franchise: “My name is Legion, for we are many.”
A new vision for the franchise
According to Universal Pictures, ‘The Exorcist: Martyrs’ is a standalone story within the horror universe and not a sequel to 2023’s ‘The Exorcist: Believer.’ After that film’s poor reception, Flanagan was hired in May 2024 to create what was described as a “new radical take” on the franchise.
Flanagan has said he aims to blend the supernatural horror of ‘The Exorcist’ with the feel of a crime thriller. “How can we explore those ideas in a serial-killer thriller in a way that starts to combine these subgenres a little, that takes what we love about a movie like Se7en or The Silence of the Lambs and combines it with what we love about a movie like The Exorcist?” he told Esquire in an interview published October 7.
In a separate interview with Phantasmag on October 9, Flanagan emphasized the film’s unique approach. “The Exorcist, as we’ve approached it, is radically different. What I love is a chance to use the familiar to do something very new, and The Exorcist, even more so than Carrie [Flanagan’s new modern-day miniseries update of the Stephen King classic], gave me that opportunity,” he said.
An official description from Universal Pictures, reported by TheWrap, reveals Detective Miller will uncover a dark connection between notorious killers. She discovers “a filament linking a lineage of serial killers, from H.H. Holmes to the Zodiac, that could corrupt everything, and everyone, she loves with an evil that goes well beyond the mortal.”
Who else is in the cast?
Johansson is joined by a star-studded cast that includes Chiwetel Ejiofor as a prison chaplain, Diane Lane as Julie’s mother, and Sasha Calle as a rookie detective. Laurence Fishburne also appears as a character named Father Nichol.
Fans of Flanagan’s work will recognize several of his frequent collaborators in the cast, including Kate Siegel, Rahul Kohli, Hamish Linklater, and Carla Gugino.
How fans reacted
The trailer’s release sparked immediate excitement on social media, with many horror fans expressing confidence in the project because of the director’s involvement. “In Mike Flanagan we trust” was a common sentiment among users on Instagram.
Some commentators on Reddit noted the plot’s similarities to the 1990 cult classic ‘The Exorcist III,’ which also featured a detective investigating a serial killer who seemingly returned from the dead. Flanagan has cited that film as an inspiration.
‘The Exorcist: Martyrs’ is scheduled to be released in theaters by Universal Pictures on March 12, 2027. The film is a production from Blumhouse-Atomic Monster, Morgan Creek Entertainment, and Flanagan’s Red Room Pictures.
