Two years ago, people loved the first season of Ryan Murphy and Ian Brennan’s show, Monster. This season told the story of the terrible crimes committed by the famous serial killer, Jeffrey Dahmer.
He was found guilty of killing 17 young men. Most of his victims he dismembered, and some he even ate.
Evan Peters played Dahmer very well and won a Golden Globe for his acting. Niecy Nash-Betts also gave a great performance and won an Emmy.
The second season, called Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story, just came out. It created a lot of discussion, with some people liking it and others disagreeing about how the story was shown.
Even with these mixed reviews, Ryan Murphy, Ian Brennan, and Netflix are planning a third season. This new season will focus on serial killer Ed Gein. Charlie Hunnam, known from Sons of Anarchy, will play Gein.
The series will take viewers back to Plainfield, Wisconsin, in the late 1950s. It will follow Gein’s brief murder spree and focus on his obsession with robbing graves and making things from human skin.
In a recent chat with Taylor Gates from Collider, Murphy shared some exciting details about the upcoming season. He revealed the official title, when they will start filming, and why they chose Gein as their next character.
‘Monster’ Season 3 Will Go Back to the Beginning
People who listen to a certain podcast may have heard the question, “Why do we care about true crime now?” The answer is that this interest is not new.
History shows that people have always been fascinated by dark topics. Murphy discussed the research he and Brennan did, saying:
“After we did Menendez, Ian and I were talking about it. We were interested in this idea of, ‘Where did our cultural interest in serial killers begin? Where and how did this all start?’
Based on our research, the very first one who became a celebrity at that level was Ed, who was an instant crazy celebrity from the moment he was arrested.
Nobody had ever heard of anything like that. Then we found out — he was motivated, obviously — but he was schizophrenic. How he became what he became was a very interesting story.”
People who know about Gein’s crimes understand that he inspired many popular movies over the years. Murphy promises that the next season will cover that part of the story, saying:
“The amazing thing that the show talks about is how many villains and how much pop culture is based on Ed Gein — Psycho, Silence of the Lambs, Texas Chainsaw Massacre, American Psycho, and on and on and on and on.
Ed influenced a lot of things in the past 100 years, and this season is a very interesting season to work on because it asks the question, ‘How did we get so interested in this and why? Where did it all begin?’”
‘Monster’ Season 3 Has a Special Title
The first two seasons of Monster had the names of the main subjects in their titles: Jeffrey Dahmer and Lyle and Erik Menendez. However, Season 3 will be different. “We’re calling that season The Original Monster because that’s kind of what he was,” Murphy said.
He also mentioned that filming will start on Halloween, saying, “We start shooting on Halloween, so we’re deep in it, and I’m very excited about it.”
As for casting Hunnam as Gein, Murphy credited filmmaker Max Winkler, who will direct some of the episodes. He told Collider:
“Max Winkler is a friend of mine. He’s directing many of [the episodes] along with Ian Brennan, my co-creator. I was talking to Max about it, and he is friends with Charlie.
He said, ‘Oh my god, Charlie. Do you love Charlie’s work?’ I was like, ‘I’ve always wanted to work with him.’
So I met with Charlie, and he’s just the most lovely person. He liked what we were doing. He liked what it’s about. Every generation gets the monster that they deserve, you know? So we’re writing about a lot of things, but he’s a wonderful guy.”
We look forward to seeing Hunnam transform into Gein since they have very different personalities. Monsters:
The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story is now available to stream on Netflix. Stay tuned at Otakukart for Gates’ complete conversation with Murphy.
