Carrie Season 2 Is The First Step Towards Mike Flanagan's Stephen King Universe

Published Oct 30, 2026, 8:00 AM EDT

Adrienne Tyler is a movies & TV features writer, with a focus on horror. She has written for Netflix, FanSided, & more. She was a regular guest on the Netfreaks podcast and was a YouTuber at some point. Guillermo del Toro said “hi” to her once.

Prime Video’s Carrie has officially been renewed for a second season, and this is the first step towards a Mike Flanagan Stephen King universe, though there’s a catch. The latest addition to the best Stephen King adaptations is Mike Flanagan’s Carrie, the first TV adaptation of King’s 1974 novel of the same name. Carrie was released in October 2026 to great success, with critics and viewers praising its approach to the story of Carrie White (played by Summer H. Howell).

Flanagan’s Carrie is a reimagining of the novel while also modernizing it, but without straying from its core messages. Carrie, then, follows teenager Carrie White as she attends school for the first time after being isolated and homeschooled by her abusive mother, Margaret (Samantha Sloyan), her whole life. Although Carrie is open to the experience and excited about it, her perspective gradually shifts after a bullying scandal, culminating in massive tragedy after a cruel prank.

Surely, the TV adaptation of Carrie made various changes to the novel, but all of them were justified and served a purpose, becoming some of the show’s biggest strengths. Of course, Carrie featured Easter eggs and references to other Stephen King stories, some of them related to The Dark Tower, and with a second season confirmed to happen, this could be the first step towards a universe of Mike Flanagan adaptations of Stephen King’s works.

Carrie Season 2 Can Directly Connect To Mike Flanagan's The Dark Tower

It’s no secret that there’s a Stephen King universe, with many stories referencing each other’s events, characters from one book appearing in another, and more. A key element in this massive universe is the Dark Tower, from the book series of the same name. The Dark Tower is a building that serves as the nexus of all universes, sitting at the center of time, space, and all realities. Holding the Tower are six invisible magical beams, which, if broken, would lead to the Tower’s fall and thus the collapse of all existence.

Now, Carrie has some subtle references to The Dark Tower, most notably LaMerk Industries and Sombra Corporation. Carrie’s father, Ralph, was a construction worker who died in an accident at work. At the beginning of the first episode, Ralph arrives at work, and there’s a big sign that reads “LaMerk, Coming Soon.” In The Dark Tower, LaMerk Industries is a company allied with the Crimson King and the Sombra Corporation to bring the Tower down.

Later on in Carrie, Chris (Alison Thornton) and Billy (Arthur Conti) take the pig’s blood from Sombra Hog Farm. In addition to this, Flanagan shared that Carrie takes place on “a certain level of the Tower”, so the connection between them is confirmed. Now, Flanagan owns the rights to develop a TV adaptation of The Dark Tower, so Carrie season 2 can directly connect to it while also paving the way for the Dark Tower TV show.

Carrie Season 2 Can Expand Its Shining Lore, But It's Tricky

Carrie’s connection to the rest of the Stephen King universe, and, more specifically, that of Mike Flanagan's King adaptations, goes beyond references to The Dark Tower. One of the most surprising Easter eggs in Carrie is the one related to The Shining and Doctor Sleep. In the finale of Carrie season 1, Adelaide says that “some people have a bit of shine” while interviewing Margaret, confirming that there’s a connection between Carrie’s powers and the “shine” displayed by characters like Danny Torrance, Dick Hallorann, and Abra Stone.

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Thanks to this, Carrie season 2 can expand its connection to The Shining and Doctor Sleep, but there’s a catch. Carrie is an Amazon MGM Studios production, while The Shining and Doctor Sleep are owned by Warner Bros., which makes direct references to each other quite tricky. However, Flanagan found a way to mention “the shine” without getting in trouble, so it wouldn’t be surprising if he finds other, creative ways to keep building that connection with The Shining and Doctor Sleep in season 2.

There’s great potential for Carrie season 2, not just in terms of expanding the story of Carrie White but also exploring its place in the Stephen King universe, and if all goes well, it could be the first major step towards a proper Mike Flanagan universe of Stephen King adaptations.

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  Summer H. Howell

  Carrie White

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  Samantha Sloyan

  Margaret White