10 Films That Retconned Themselves (To Fix Glaring Mistakes)

Here’s a strange case: where the first three Child’s Play films were straightforward horrors which saw Chucky the possessed doll try to kill his former owner Andy, the fourth and fifth instalments switched tone for a broad horror-comedy to tell the meta-story of Chucky, his bride Tiffany, and their child, even featuring cameos from the movie’s cast as themselves. Wes Craven’s New Nightmare has nothing on Jennifer Tilly playing herself playing Tiffany, and being killed by the ‘real’ Tiffany (who, of course, is also voiced by Tilly).

With all this interplay, it’s understandable that the later sequel Curse of Chucky opted for a more grounded tone (as grounded as a killer doll movie can be, that is). What’s strange is the entire series is the brainchild of writer director Don Mancini, making this a rare case of a director ignoring their own continuity as the franchise progressed.

To complicate things further Chucky has since been retconned by a new director and is now a malfunctioning AI rather than being possessed. Er—until the upcoming Don Mancini-helmed TV series, which he promises will re-establish the voodoo version of the character.

And Sony thought Spider-Man rights were complicated.