The highly-anticipated adaption of Stephen King‘s The Talisman has been scrapped, but the author’s underrated ongoing thriller perfectly makes up for this.
An adaptation of Stephen King’s The Talisman has been in talks for decades. Its first adaptation was planned in the 1990s, but creative clashes and budget issues seemingly led to its cancellation. From the big screen, the project moved to the small screen in the early 2000s, but budget constraints proved to be a problem again. The cursed Stephen King adaptation almost happened again a decade later before seeing another failure.
For a while, it looked like the Duffer Brothers’ take on the Stephen King book would finally end the cure. Unfortunately, that, too, has officially been canceled. The good thing is that an ongoing Stephen King TV show fills the scrapped show’s void in more ways than one.
Stephen King’s The Institute Makes Up For Duffer Brothers’ Talisman Cancellation
Stephen King’s The Talisman is a multidimensional odyssey that combines extreme fantasy with bleak Americana. The Institute, in contrast, is far narrower in scale and unfolds more like a Hawkins-era spin-off to Stranger Things. However, there is an entire arc in The Talisman that almost feels like a chapter from Stephen King’s The Institute.
The Institute follows a familiar narrative in which a bunch of telepathic and telekinetic are abducted from their homes and experimented on in the name of serving a perceived greater good. After constantly being subjected to ruthless experiments, the kids in the show ultimately snap and fight for their freedom.
Even in The Talisman, there is a story arc in which the main characters, Jack and Wolf, are arrested and sent to a home for delinquent boys. In this home, the boys are bullied and exploited while the home is kept hidden from the outside world. They, too, eventually plan an escape after being brutally punished every day, only to find themselves in a bigger cage outside.
Although a lot more happens in The Talisman, and it is far more fantastical than The Institute, it dabbles with similar themes of systemic oppression and exploitation of childhood innocence in many of its arcs.
Owing to this, viewers who are let-down by The Talisman‘s cancellation can check out The Institute on MGM+, which will soon return with another season.
The Institute Is Reminiscent Of Some Of Stephen King’s Best Works
Apart from sharing narrative overlaps with The Talisman, The Institute is also similar to many other Stephen King stories. For instance, the titular Institute in its stories reminds one of “The Shop” in Firestarter. Like Danny from The Shining, the young characters in The Institute also seem to have traces of “the shine,” which grants them supernatural powers.
Similar to IT and Carrie, The Institute also captures how it is always the adults who weaponize fear and authority and rationalize cruelty as necessity.
The Institute‘s entire story also seems very similar to the Breakers’ arc in The Dark Tower, where “gifted” individuals are imprisoned, exploited, and drained of their powers by a shadowy organization that views them as expendable tools.
MGM+’s take on Stephen King‘s The Institute is not among the best adaptations of the author’s works, but it shows immense potential in season 1 and will likely get even better in its next installment.
This story originally appeared on Screenrant
