‘M3GAN’ ending explained - does the killer doll thriller set up a sequel?

Blumhouse’s latest mid-budget horror flick M3GAN has officially arrived, and though we’re only just now getting to know our new favorite killer doll, it’s never too early to look to the future. So how does the ending set up for a possible M3GAN sequel? 

**SPOILER WARNING! Spoilers ahead for M3GAN, out in theaters now!**

The concept is a familiar one for fans of scary doll franchises like Chucky or Annabelle, though filtered through a techno-thriller lens. It stars Allison Williams as Gemma, an inventor who has to suddenly take in her young niece Cady (Violent McGraw) after the girl loses her parents in a car crash. Gemma’s passion project is M3GAN, a robot doll powered by a self-learning AI that will do (ahem) anything to project Cady.

It all comes to a head when M3GAN goes full psycho killer and takes out several people she perceives as a threat to Cady, and finally tries to kill Gemma when she attempts to shut down M3GAN and figure out which programming mistakes are allowing her to break so many of Asimov’s tried and true laws of robotics. Cady catches her mid-murder and finally realizes her adorable robo-pal might be a problem after all. Cady uses an older, remote-controlled robot to take down M3GAN, finally ripping her apart. But when that doesn’t even do the trick, Cady stabs a screwdriver right through her central processor — bye bye M3GAN.

At least, that’s how it seems at first.

Like most good horror movies, this one ends with a bit of a tease. No, there’s not a post-credit scene, but instead a closing shot of Gemma’s Alexa-esque smart device in her living room lighting up and “looking” toward the camera. M3GAN was easily able to manipulate the smart home device before, along with pretty much any tech she wants to use along the way. So… could she have uploaded some version or herself, or a remnant, before that final clash? Hey, anything is possible — and that final shot of the smart home device certainly felt menacing.

Beyond that, there’s another dangling thread that could set up a sequel: David’s (Ronny Chieng) assistant is seen at one point copying the folder including all the plans and specs to build M3GAN. Presumably he was looking to sell it to other toy and tech companies to leverage himself a better gig (he seems pretty miserable in the moments we see him working for David, so that tracks). Though he doesn’t survive his final meeting with M3GAN in the elevator, it only makes sense that the stolen data is still out there… somewhere.

So will we get a sequel to M3GAN? Blumhouse has never been shy about ramping up a sequel to a surprise hit (it’s why we have three Annabelle movies, after all), so if M3GAN does as well as projected at the box office, it stands to reason they could find a way to get M3GAN back online for a few more kills. If nothing else, you know she’d have to be itching for some revenge on Gemma and Cady.

M3GAN is in theaters now. Looking for more killer doll fun? Check out SYFY’s Chucky, now streaming on Peacock!