M3GAN 2.0 is a 'redemption story' for the robot
In the follow-up film, M3GAN has to be rebuilt by her creator Gemma (Allison Williams) to battle a self-aware military robot called AMELIA intent on an AI takeover.
Johnstone insists it was always his intention for the M3GAN robot to never do anything heinously evil in the original film, but only what she was programmed to do to protect Gemma's orphaned niece Cady (Violent McGraw), with murderous consequences, which allowed him to let audiences give her a second chance.
In an interview with The AU Review, he said: "When I was working on the first movie, I was always very careful not to have her do anything that felt just malicious or evil. I really felt like I empathised with this character. That she was doing what she was programmed to do, and I never betrayed that.
"From that point of view, she's sort of an avenging angel. I remember having people come up to me after the premiere, and they were conflicted, because they were rooting for her to win. You don't get that with a Freddy [Krueger] or a Jason [Voorhees]. They're the bad guy and you want them to die. Whereas with M3GAN, you kind of don't want her to die. I felt like everyone wanted to give her a second chance and a redemption story."
When a sequel was planned, Johnstone knew the plot thread that the technology for M3GAN - who is voiced by Jenna Davis) could've been stolen and used for military purposes would be a fantastic jumping off point and a way to redeem the robot.
He said: "I think both things happen simultaneously. One of the biggest threats we had from the first movie that was unresolved was this idea that M3GAN's technology was trying to be sold or stolen by one of the employees at the toy company. We didn't really do anything with that thread. So it just felt like a really great place to jump off for this sequel. It felt logical.
"If a technology that advanced and formidable existed, the military – whether it's the US military or another nation's – would be trying to get their hands on it. As soon as that logic set in, it made me realise that this needs to be more of an action film than a horror film, (but) still an action film that has its origins in horror and nods to the genre which it's spraying at times."
Johnstone is aware that M3GAN is a horror icon and gay icon thanks to the 2022 film and he has promised that his new movie sees her do everything that made audiences fall in love with her.
He said: "To give audiences the best movie and to present the character in the best way. To utilise all the the things she does as a character that made people fall in love with her in the first place, but in surprising ways. That was whole mission statement going in."
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