Stephen King’s 2 New Shows In 2026 Will Tell The Same Dark Story

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As a huge Stephen King fan, I’m really excited to hear that two of his stories are heading to TV in 2026 – and it’s wild to find out they share a similar plot! Honestly, adaptations of his work haven’t always been great. For years, they just didn’t feel like King. There have been a few exceptions, like The Outsider and Mr. Mercedes, and the 1994 miniseries of The Stand was pretty memorable, but most attempts just didn’t quite capture what makes his stories so special.

Recently, things began to shift. Two Stephen King TV series – The Institute on MGM+ and It: Welcome to Derry on HBO – which debuted last year, proved popular with both audiences and critics. This year, 2026, looks set to continue this success, with the release of The Institute’s second season and Mike Flanagan’s adaptation of Carrie.

Season 2 of The Institute looks promising, as viewers are naturally curious to see how the MGM+ horror series will build upon the world created in Stephen King’s book. Meanwhile, there’s a lot of excitement for Carrie, largely because Mike Flanagan is the creator. While both shows have their own appeal, it’s hard to ignore the many similarities they appear to share.

Stephen King’s The Institute & Carrie Share A Similar Thematic Core

As a big Stephen King fan, I’ve noticed something really interesting. Even though Carrie came out way back in 1974 and The Institute is much more recent, from 2019, they really feel connected. King doesn’t explicitly say they’re linked, but both books dig into similar, tough stuff – like how kids lose their innocence, how trauma can be used against them, and how adults can mess things up through selfishness and carelessness. It’s like he revisits these ideas throughout his work, and it’s fascinating to see!

Both Carrie and The Institute feature young characters with special abilities. Carrie uses telekinesis, while Luke Ellis in The Institute shows hints of both telekinesis and telepathy. In both stories, these powers become a problem, attracting those who want to control or harm the children because of them.

Both Carrie and Luke face mistreatment – Carrie from her mother and school, and Luke from those running a facility where he and other gifted children are held and experimented on. Eventually, both children are pushed too far and use their extraordinary abilities to retaliate against those who have harmed them.

Compared to Carrie, The Institute has a much broader scope. It connects supernatural powers and controlling institutions to a worldwide plot, and plans to delve deeper into the idea of children who can see the future in its next season. Carrie, on the other hand, feels like a darker, more intimate story, similar in some ways to Roald Dahl’s Matilda.

Stephen King’s novels Carrie and The Institute were published 45 years apart, but fans have spotted a possible connection between them. In Carrie, the story introduces the White Commission, a secret government group created to investigate and prevent events like the tragic “Black Prom” from happening again.

Some believe the “White Commission” was a precursor to “The Institute.” In Stephen King’s Carrie, there’s a mention of this organization having identified the genes responsible for telepathy and telekinesis, and planning to test children for these abilities starting in first grade. This suggests the White Commission was initially developing plans that would eventually become The Institute, with the goal of taking advantage of children with special powers.

Mike Flanagan’s Carrie Can Become The Best Stephen King TV Show

Previous movie versions of Carrie haven’t used the storytelling style of the original Stephen King novel. The book is told through letters, newspaper articles, and personal accounts, which deeply involves the reader in the tragic events and lets them experience it from different viewpoints. A film could capture this unique structure by using a “found footage” style, mirroring how the book is presented.

Although many specifics about Flanagan’s new show are still a secret, he’s suggested it will incorporate the “found footage” style – presenting the story as if discovered recordings. He’s also mentioned using current technology, like videos from cell phones, to show how Carrie’s story happens in today’s world.

Mike Flanagan’s new version of Carrie promises to be a fresh and timely take on Stephen King’s classic, distinguishing itself from earlier adaptations. Given Flanagan’s impressive history of successfully adapting King’s work, this series is likely to be excellent—it could even be the best Stephen King TV adaptation ever made.

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2026-05-01 00:18