Could there be more ‘Fear Street’ films in Netflix's future? The cast has some ideas

Usually, film franchises take a few years to build — see the entire Marvel Cinematic Universe and all the Fast and the Furious films — but Netflix introduced and expanded upon the world of Fear Street and Shadyside in a trio of movies that were released over the course of three successive weeks. Spanning three different years (1994, 1978, and 1666), the trilogy doesn’t just set up the "present-day" in the '90s, but also travels back to events in the past, infusing its world with a real sense of history that makes it feel very lived in.

But just because this current chapter of Shadyside has been closed, and Netflix hasn't officially confirmed any sequels, that doesn’t mean the story of Fear Street can’t continue onward. For one, the movies themselves are based on the bestselling book series of author R.L. Stine, and while they aren’t straightforward adaptations of any one book, the world that inspired them has been full of murder and mayhem — all perfectly supported by the canon of the films, which see Shadyside cast as a murder capital of sorts, having seen various murderers emerge over the years, each with a look and backstory that’s equal parts intriguing and terrifying.

And while the films have touched on one or two of the killers in question, there’s plenty of room to expand on the rest — and director Leigh Janiak, who was a big fan of the books while growing up, is more than game for it.

"The idea of creating a bigger Fear Street universe was one of the first things that I talked about with my producers," Janiak tells SYFY Wire. "I feel like Fear Street has this possibility to be a horror Marvel where we have stand-alone [films] and additional trilogies and everything. I know everyone is very excited about the movies and the possibilities of the universe." 

Credit: Netflix

Even actor Kiana Madeira (The Flash) who plays the lead character of Deena in all three films would like to see more movies set in this world. And she knows exactly whose backstory she'd like to see unpacked next, especially now that audience knows exactly why the curse on the town came about. 

"I would love to see an origin story about Ruby Lane," Madeira muses. "I would love to see another female character who was just possessed. And I would love to see where she came from and everything that happened to her." 

As viewers might remember, Lane's story begins in 1965, when she became yet another possessed teenager, forced to kill her boyfriend and several of her friends, before taking her own life with a razor. Most notably, she sang a song as she killed her victims, which was (rather fittingly) The Mills' Brother's "You Always Hurt The One You Love." And much like how this particular trilogy focused deeply on different kinds of female relationships, so too could a film about Ruby, as both 1978 and 1666 reveal that her grieving mother, Nurse Lane, is still in search of the truth, having been unable to understand why her daughter could have committed such a horrific crime. 

Meanwhile, Madeira's co-star Olivia Scott Welch (Marvel's Agent Carter), who plays her love interest Sam, thinks the time-hopping quality of the movies means that Fear Street could actually leap forward to the 2000s, especially with the slightly open-ended nature of the trilogy's ending. This would allow the series to pay tribute to more recent horror films, and not just all the classics from the '70s, '80s, and '90s. It would also offer the series a chance to switch up the tone and genre. 

"I love the Blade movies with Wesley Snipes," says Welch, who is a big horror movie buff herself. "Those are really incredible. And I think those could be a fun reference. [Though] I'm thinking more action movies like The Matrix. It'd be very fun to kind of go in that kind of dark actiony world for one, just to see what that would be like."

But could Sam, Deena, and all the remaining survivors of Fear Street also make a comeback in future movies? (Not unlike the surviving characters of Scream, one of the movies Janiak cites as an inspiration for the trilogy.) Well, both Madeira and Welch would love to return.

"I would 100 percent love to," says Madeira. "Especially work with the cast and crew and Leigh again would be amazing."

Welch agrees. "Without a doubt I'd return. If they call me tomorrow, I'd be like, 'Where are we filming? I will go there now.' I love the movies so much and I'm so proud of them and they're so fun." 

All three Fear Street movies are currently available to stream on Netflix.