Anne Rice’s Immortal Universe on AMC isn’t just limited to the glamorous undead like the vampires Lestat and Louis. This coming winter, Rice’s other most famous creations, the Mayfair Witches, return to AMC in an all-new season. At NYCC, AMC released a new trailer for the third season, now titled Anne Rice’s Mayfair Witches: Salem Coven. Season three takes Rowan Mayfair (Alexandra Daddario) from the gothic climate of New Orleans to New England, the world’s most infamous destination for witches, Salem, Massachusetts. You can watch the full trailer for Anne Rice’s Mayfair Witches: Salem Coven down below:
Alongside Alexandra Daddario, the New York Comic Con panel also showcased several prominent cast members. Among the cast on stage were Harry Hamlin, Tongayi Chirisa, Betsy Brandt, and Eliza Scanlen. Also at the panel were co-showrunners Esta Spalding and Tom Schnauz, and executive producer Mark Johnson. Much like Interview with the Vampire essentially got a new name for its third season, becoming The Vampire Lestat, it seems that Anne Rice’s Mayfair Witches decided to go a similar route. Although in this instance, the producers came up with an entirely new name, instead of naming it after Rice’s Mayfair Witches sequel novels, Lasher and Taltos.
Nerdist’s Take: By Evoking the Salem Witch Trials, Mayfair Witches Is Going in a Direction Author Anne Rice Never Went
In the third season, Rowan Mayfair finds her innate powers increased after drinking the blood of the sinister Taltos, Lasher. (Wait, we thought this one wasn’t the Anne Rice vampire show?) The Anne Rice novels made no connection to Salem at all, so this is all-new territory for the story. Rice believed that Salem never contained any real witches, just victimized young women. But as we know, the AMC series is not afraid to veer wildly off-book. At the panel, we also got a season three premiere date, as they revealed that Anne Rice’s Mayfair Witches: Salem Coven would premiere on AMC and AMC+ on December 30.