M3GAN director responds to fan theory that horror villain was based on Elizabeth Olsen

The director of M3GAN, the upcoming horror everyone's hyped about, has opened up about a fan theory suggesting the titular villain is based on Elizabeth Olsen.

Unless you've been on a social media hiatus in recent weeks, you'll will have seen the much-memed demonic doll in your feeds at some point.

Months before the film's release, fans were going crazy over M3GAN, the new movie about an AI-powered lifelike doll created by a woman named Gemma (Allison Williams) for her grieving niece (Violet McGraw).

But things take a turn for the deadly when M3GAN turns out to be a little bit too overprotective of her young owner.

From TikTok dance sequences to Halloween cosplays, it's been interesting to see the world fully embrace the new horror icon before they'd even had a chance to see her on the big screen.

Amid the excitement, one rather hilarious fan theory arose that the doll is based on Elizabeth Olsen or the Olsen twins as it appears some people are unable to get past the resemblance.

Rather than let the idea take on a life of its own, much like M3GAN herself, UNILAD were lucky enough to catch up with director Gerard Johnstone ahead of the release to get some clarity on the theory.

While the filmmaker found the suggestion funny, he explained that it would've been near impossible to base the doll on any one celebrity – including the Olsens – due to the complexity of the creative process.

AFF/Alamy Stock Photo

"Even if we had said she's going to look like Elizabeth Olsen, once the team in charge of making her then 2d conceptualised her, made her into 3d, and then manufactured her and put silicone on – all these little incremental changes completely change the way she looks," Johnstone told us.

"And so, ultimately, she really was her own creation."

He continued: "We had a 2d concept sketch that we really loved but it looks different from the real M3GAN. But now we've all fallen in love with the way our real M3GAN looks."

So no, the creative team didn't have the Olsens in mind when creating the killer doll, but they did have a particular look they wanted to achieve.

It's safe to say M3GAN has a fair few demonic dolls to contend with, from Chucky to Annabelle, and so to make her stand out from the crowd, Johnstone wanted her to be as lifelike as possible.

Blumhouse

"I had a Pinterest page just full of dolls, like every single doll you can imagine," he said. "And it was always the more lifelike ones that were the creepiest.

"So when the people that were charged with making her came on board, they specialise in making human-like prosthetics, it became obvious that we should try to make her as real as possible.

"Whenever you see those European dolls that are just super lifelike, they're the creepiest and so that was really what we set out to do."

Well, you can't deny they achieved that goal – M3GAN is lifelike and creepy as hell.

UNILAD also posed the Olsen question to Allison Williams, who was equally amused by the fan theory.

"That’s so funny," she said. "As I started seeing sketches of her, I kept seeing different people and she's looked the same for many iterations of her even before we started filming.

Blumhouse

"At one point, I thought she looked a lot like Juno Temple. I haven't thought of Elizabeth Olsen or the Olsen twins before but now I totally see it."

Williams went on to explain: "I think you kind of project what you project onto her. She's enough of a blank slate that you sort of see different faces in there, but I love hearing who people think she looks like."

One thing we know for certain is that the film is an absolute riot and features the perfect blend of horror and comedy, not least because of its leading villain.

M3GAN, which hits UK cinemas on January 13, is well worth adding to your 2023 watch list.