The Exorcist: Believer’s demon does have a name, but director David Gordon Green won’t tell you – and neither will the movie

(Image credit: Blumhouse)

Who's the main antagonist in The Exorcist: Believer? David Gordon Green knows, but he's keeping a tight lip.

"It’s not like the original film talks about Pazuzu," Green tells SFX magazine in the new issue, which features The Exorcist: Believer on the cover. "When I got really serious about this, and you go back into the original film, you see the extraordinary ambiguity throughout it, which is awesome. But today’s audience wants definition. They want to know who, what, why, how. That’s a really interesting evolution. But can’t we be ambiguous?"

This is a fascinating revelation for Exorcist fans, as the demon who possesses Regan in the original film has long been thought to be Pazuzu. This is because Pazuzu, considered to be king of the demons in Assyrian and Babylonian mythology, is mentioned by name in author William Peter Blatty's Exorcist novels – which the movies are based on. Blatty, who took inspiration from the 1949 exorcism case of a boy named Roland Doe, also penned the screenplay for Friedkin's original film.

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"I’m so tempted to tell you the name of our demon, but we don’t say it in the movie,” he continues. “So part of me just wants you to figure it out. Or if you’re a demonologist, then you know, and then if you have a friend that’s a demonologist, that’s a great dinner. I’m sorry, I’ll probably say at some point, but I’m holding back as long as I can."

In the trailer, we see the demon immediately recognize Chris MacNeil (Ellen Burstyn), with Chris saying, "We've met before." If the demon in the films isn't Pazuzu... then who is it?

The Exorcist: Believer is set to hit cinemas on October 6. The above is just a snippet of our interview, available in the latest issue of SFX Magazine, which features The Exorcist: Believer on the cover and is available on newsstands from Wednesday, October 4. For even more from SFX, sign up for the newsletter, sending all the latest exclusives straight to your inbox.

I'm the Editor of SFX, the world's number one sci-fi, fantasy and horror magazine – available digitally and in print every four weeks since 1995. I've been editing magazines, and writing for numerous publications since before the Time War. Obviously SFX is the best one. I knew being a geek would work out fine.

With contributions from

Lauren MiliciSenior Entertainment Writer