Return of the Thing was a planned television mini-series, and sequel to the 1982 film The Thing. In 2005, Sci-Fi Channel announced that it was planning to make a four-hour mini-series produced by Frank Darabont (The Shawshank Redemption, The Mist) and written by Darabont’s former production assistant David Leslie Johnson. Although ultimately cancelled, pre-production artwork and two screenplays were released, revealing the creator's vision for the series.[1]
Setting[]
According to David Leslie Johnson's screenplay, the series was primarily intended to take place in the year 2005, centred around the desert of New Mexico. Following the events of The Thing (1982), the Soviets receive fragments of Windows’ rescue call and are the first to arrive at the remains of U.S. Outpost 31 six months later. Led by Dr. Lukanov and his wife Alina, the Russians find the frozen bodies of MacReady and Childs and salvage the alien spacecraft. Attempts are made to weaponize a sample found on-board the craft, during which a lab accident claims the life of Lukanov's wife and the project is halted. Twenty three years later, Chechen rebels break into the abandoned facility and steal what they believe to be a phial of smallpox. An imitation of one of the terrorists, Ivan Vitsenko, boards a commercial airliner from Moscow to Los Angeles and after notifying the Americans of an impending terrorist attack, fighters are sent to escort the Boeing 767 to a military airbase. Vitsenko, aware of what is happening, has a heart attack and in a scene reminiscent of Norris' resuscitation, the creature chaotically reveals itself - causing the aircraft to crash land in an isolated part of New Mexico.
The screenplays also revealed a new weakness to the Thing, which is electricity. Electricity is described as forcing the Thing to unwillingly revert to past forms.
Cast (No actors)[]
Human[]
- Yuri Lukanov
- Alina Lukanov
- Fedyenka Vigovsky
- Dr. Kadakin
- Roger Pritchard
- Pete Avery
- Ivan Vitsenko
- Anne Blackburn
- Frank Little Bear
- Petrovsky
- Dale Rafferty
- Len Hayes
- Michael Elliot
- Sara Elliot
- Bob Boyle
- Samantha Boyle
- Maureen
- Jamie Prescott
- Wendy Prescott
- Taylor Prescott
- Nick Webber
- Sommers
- Mitch Brenner
- Luis Elliot
- Hollis Gates
- Antoine Wise
- Paulette Milligan
- Billy Milligan
- Ginnie Milligan
- Shiner
- Harold
- Hauser
- Chadwick
- Colonel Ricks
- Dobson
- Tomkins
- Major Cruz
Thing Creatures[]
- Vitsenko-Thing
- Coyote-Things
- Jackrabbit-Things
- Egg-Things
- Chicken-Things
- Shiner-Thing
- Luis-Thing
- Brenner-Thing
- Sara-Thing
- Paulette-Thing
- Ginnie-Thing
- Lab Rat-Thing
- Alina-Thing
- Dale-Thing
- Medic-Thing
- Phantom Squad-Things
- Ghost Squad-Things
- Dobson-Thing
- Alpha-Thing
- Avery-Thing
- Taylor-Thing
- Pritchard-Thing
- Pure Thing
- Little Bear-Thing
Thing Creature Anatomy[]
Vitsenko-Thing[]
Its 'deceased' form is similar to the Split Face, but with three constituents instead of two. The creature has a central trunk with three distinct heads, and the autopsy done on the creature reveals an organ that resembles a deformed liver, while the other organs were liquefied. Described alive in the second screenplay as 'a hideous mass of boiling flesh and tearing clothes'.
Coyote-Things, Jackrabbit-Things and Chicken-Things[]
Most of these thing creatures resemble the base animals and are not depicted as transforming.
Egg-Things[]
Multiple. The first egg-thing reacted similarly to the Blood Test Thing when it came into contact with a hot frying pan and was only shown in the first screenplay. It is described as seeming to turn inside-out, with tiny tendrils and pincer-like appendages emerging from it. After escaping behind an oven, from the words of the screenplay, it most likely sprouted legs. The creature later sprouted a thin tendril and gained the ability to spray an acidic substance the screenplay describes as looking like 'toxic silly string'.
The second egg-thing also only appears in the first screenplay, having formed from multiple eggs in a wire basket fusing together. The creature is described as having spider-like legs, numerous thin tendrils and the snout of a coyote.
Shiner-Thing[]
Only appears in the first screenplay. Described as having a long, serpentine stalk in the place of a neck.
Luis-Thing[]
Does not transform until the second screenplay. Described as having a grinning mouth full of sharp teeth as it begins to transform. Its fully body is not depicted, but is described as having clicking mandibles, bony stalks and mantis-like appendages. Its appendages are described splitting into numerous clawed, human-like hands.
Brenner-Thing[]
Only appears in the first screenplay. At first, it looks similar to Mitch Brenner, albeit shirtless and described as a 'fat, angry, blood-spattered juggernaut'. After being shot with a shotgun, the creature's eyes rolled into the back of its head and the hole in its chest swarming with thin tendrils.
Sara-Thing[]
Has multiple forms. Described at first as having a ring finger transformed into a barbed tendril, eyes on stalks and the ability to unhinge its jaw and distend its body in a manner similar to a snake, which it used to devour Dale Rafferty. By the time it finished assimilating Dale, the two entities merged into one creature. The entity in its second form is described as having a coyote-like snout, half a dozen mouths and looking similar to a giant harvestman.
Its third form is described as being mostly skinned, with dozens of thin tendrils tipped with the heads of chickens, a snake-like neck and a split open head that resembles the leaf of a venus flytrap. The last detail is very similar to the Griggs-Thing, but it is unknown if the design of the Griggs-Thing was inspired by this design detail or not. From the torso sprouts a roughly human face, the skinless head of a coyote. The legs are unchanged.
Paulette-Thing[]
Only appears in the first screenplay. Described as being covered in slime and wrapped in slowly-moving tendrils.
Ginnie-Thing[]
Barely changed, but described as having immense strength.
Lab Rat-Thing[]
Transforms inside Alina Lukanov's hazmat suit, so is barely seen. All that is shown of the creature is a fleshy tendril wrapped around Alina's head.
Alina-Thing[]
Barely changed.
Dale-Thing[]
Described as having giant claws that erupt from its body as though spring-loaded. It transforms further, but its body is not fully shown, and what little of it is described is a protoplasmic mass of flesh from which sprouts the limbs and heads of numerous earthly and alien creatures.
Medic-Thing[]
Originally a medic attacked by the Dale-Thing. Described as having a deformed face.
Phantom Squad-Things[]
Described as having torn gear and being zombie-like in movement.
Dobson-Thing[]
Though it was killed mid-transformation, it is described as having numerous spiked barbs in the place of a head.
Alpha-Thing[]
Described as having a split-open head, from which emerges the head of Vitsenko. It is also described as having two human arms which it uses to climb.
Avery-Thing[]
Though very little of it is described, it is described as a lumbering creature with a three-clawed hand.
Taylor-Thing[]
Only its face is described, and it is described as having small mouths with needle-like teeth in the place of eyes, while the original mouth is described as 'a gaping maw of jagged fangs'.
Pritchard-Thing[]
Shocked with electricity numerous times, revealing numerous past forms the Thing has taken and eventually the Pure Thing.
Pure Thing[]
Described as a swirling, amorphous mass with a thousand toothless mouths.
Little Bear-Thing[]
Described as a severed head with spidery legs and eyes on stalks, much like the final form of the Norris-Thing.
Images[]
_1.jpg "The Thing (Sci-Fi Mini Series) 1.jpg (67 KB)")
_2.png "The Thing (Sci-Fi Mini Series) 2.png (281 KB)")
_3.jpg "The Thing (Sci-Fi Mini Series) 3.jpg (119 KB)")
_4.jpg "The Thing (Sci-Fi Mini Series) 4.jpg (100 KB)")
_5.jpg "The Thing (Sci-Fi Mini Series) 5.jpg (93 KB)")
_6.jpg "The Thing (Sci-Fi Mini Series) 6.jpg (81 KB)")
_7.jpg "The Thing (Sci-Fi Mini Series) 7.jpg (64 KB)")
_8.jpg "The Thing (Sci-Fi Mini Series) 8.jpg (113 KB)")
_9.jpg "The Thing (Sci-Fi Mini Series) 9.jpg (74 KB)")
_10.jpg "The Thing (Sci-Fi Mini Series) 10.jpg (67 KB)")
Trivia[]
- Unlike many other sequels to The Thing (1982), protagonists MacReady and Childs are unambiguously revealed as deceased in David Leslie Johnson's screenplay. They are also both human.
References[]
- ↑ Rob Fahey (16th February 2009). Exclusive: A look at the Return of the Thing screenplay (English). Corona Coming Attractions. Retrieved on 2015-06-28.