John Carpenter teases that The Thing 2 could happen – but it’s a bad idea

Director John Carpenter has teased a sequel to 1982 classic The Thing at a recent convention Q&A.

"I have been sworn to secrecy, okay, because there may be, I don’t know if there will be, there may be a Thing 2," Carpenter said during the recent Texas Frightmare Weekend (via Creepy Catalog).

We can hear the groans from here. While another movie based in The Thing universe isn’t inherently bad (we got a divisive prequel in 2011 after all), a direct sequel could undo one of cinema's all-time great endings. Kurt Russell’s MacReady and Childs (Keith David) sharing a drink while on the verge of freezing to death, their cold fronts thawing after encountering The Thing and its ability to imitate, is about as perfect as finales get.

Though there is an odd curio that could serve as a blueprint for any potential follow-up to The Thing. A 2002 video game, featuring a cameo from Carpenter himself, served as a sequel to the events of the original.

For the vast majority of the playthrough, it instead deals with a Special Forces team tasked with investigating the camps in Antarctica and, inevitably, coming into contact with The Thing.

It was fairly well-received at the time, averaging 78 on Metacritic. It also built on the movie’s themes of insecurity with a ‘trust’ mechanic that forced players to help out their squad – otherwise they would suspect him of being The Thing.

2002's The Thing may mess things – or Things – up by introducing MacReady at the end, but a separate months or years-later story set in the same location would be the way to go. Even then, it feels like a bad idea: an attempt to recapture lightning in a bottle or, worse, a pale imitation of a classic. Instead, we’ll just crack open a bottle of whisky and settle down with the iconic original.

Read on to discover our picks for the best horror movies ever made.