John Carpenter's remains one of the most beloved and enduring horror films ever made; it is still widely discussed and championed over four decades after its release. Yet, .
Yet, at a special 4K screening of The Thing at the David Geffen Theater in Los Angeles on March 22, Carpenter spoke to Bong Joon Ho — where he also agreed to score the Korean director's next film — and mentioned there was a "giant hint" in the middle of the film that fans had yet to discover. This led to much online speculation and digging through the film again. Finally, one fan thinks they have the answer.
The Thing
- June 25, 1982
- 109 minutes
- John Carpenter
- Bill Lancaster
- The Thing
Shortly after this announcement, indie horror director Joe Russo weighed in, giving his fan theory. Russo noted, "Around the midpoint of THE THING, Fuchs tells MacReady The Thing can replicate at the cellular level and they should eat out of cans and prepare their own food." Saying that at the time of the release of the movie, this concept did not go anywhere, but when considering it as the mentioned "massive hint" Carpenter said exists, .
In the film's closing moments, MacReady forgoes the advice not to share anything, choosing to give his drink to Childs as Keith David delivers the final chilling line: "Why don't we just... wait here for a little while, see what happens?" Of course, this could have been a lapse in judgment on either of their parts, yet , meaning that 'the thing' won and claimed both of them at the end. Still, speculation continues, with some doubting Russo's assessment, likely as John Carpenter intended.
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The 2002 video game adaptation of The Thing, which was recently remastered and released in 2024, received John Carpenter's blessing and is considered a continuation of the film's canon by many. With this in mind, many have felt that the theory of who is 'the thing' was solved, to a degree. Notably, . The implication here is that MacReady was likely infected.
Combined with the most recent fan theory, this revelation is intriguing because both point to MacReady being 'The Thing.' The variation comes from Russo's theory that he also turned Childs into one of the creatures, versus the game implying he died as a human. Of course, . The mystery will likely stay, but we seem closer than ever to discovering what really happened to MacReady and Childs, or we've already found the answer and are just not getting the validation from Carpenter. .
