It’s official! The fourth season of Interview with the Vampire will adapt Anne Rice’s third vampire novel, The Queen of the Damned. The next season will witness the immortal Queen Akasha (Sheila Atim) rise in the modern era, becoming a terrifying force of nature. This Rice novel has many layers and is told from many points of view. It’s definitely going to be hard to authentically adapt The Queen of the Damned as a series. Warner Bros. tried to condense it into a 2002, and despite Aaliyah’s iconic portrayal of Akasha, it was largely a dud. Before pre-production begins on Queen of the Damned, here are the elements of the novel (and some from Rice’s The Vampire Lestat) they really need to include in the AMC version.
Include the Ancient Vampiric Twins, Maharet and Mekare, in Queen of the Damned
The main throughline of Anne Rice’s The Queen of the Damned is the story of two ancient twins, Maharet and Mekare, who were witches in ancient Palestine. They had the power to summon spirits, and one spirit in particular, Amel, looked favorably on the sister witches. When Akasha can’t force the spirit Amel to do her bidding, she blames the twins and assaults and mutilates them. She rips the tongue from Mekare and the eyes from Maharet. Eventually, the two become vampires themselves, vowing revenge on Akasha should she ever rise again. Maharet eventually replaces her own eyes with those of her mortal victims.
One of the twins, Maharet, continues to watch over humanity for many centuries. She chronicles her every human descendant over a 6,000 year time-span, referring to them as “the Great Family.” By the modern age, every country on Earth has an element of this Great Family, which is ultimately the human family. Together with her sister, who awakens from her own long slumber, the two enact their revenge against Akasha to protect their mortal lineage, now consisting of thousands of human beings.
The movie version of The Queen of the Damned left the twins almost entirely out of the story. Maharet is in the film, played by Lena Olin, as a wise elder vampire, but not her twin sister Mekare. This almost totally changes the character and her motivations. We hope that the television version understands how essential the twins are to the Queen of the Damned narrative. It is a core reason why it’s such a fan favorite book. It’s time to tell the story Anne Rice imagined the movie failed to even attempt.
The History of Armand and Daniel, or “The Devil’s Minion”
The novel The Queen of the Damned has a significant chapter, “The Story of Daniel, the Devil’s Minion, or the Boy from Interview with the Vampire.” In it, we find out how after his 1973 interview with Louis, Daniel was stalked by Armand, who followed him across the globe. Eventually, Armand falls in love with Daniel (Eric Bogosian), and the two have an intense love affair. Armand uses his vast wealth to establish the Night Island, a shopping and entertainment getaway off the coast of Florida.
While season one of IWTV seemed to make that story unfeasible, the admissions from Armand to Daniel in TVL about his years being in love with him suggest some form of the story did happen. Perhaps with Armand tampering with Daniel’s memories so he would forget. Either in Queen of the Damned or a possible Night Island spin-off, fans want this story told.
Talamasca Agent, Jesse Reeves Should Be in the Queen of the Damned TV Show
The Queen of the Damned is the novel that introduced the Talamasca organization to Anne Rice’s canon through the character of Jesse Reeves. She’s a young psychic medium of some renown, who is recruited into the Talamasca. And it’s through her eyes we learn about the order, and her “great aunt” Maharet and the Great Family. She’s a rather important character in the novel, even though she largely vanishes after this one book from the series. The Queen of the Damned film recast her as Lestat’s love interest, a complete straight-washing of his character. In the film, actress Marguerite Moreau portrays her. Although we don’t want to see her with Lestat romantically, the series should include her in some capacity.
The Backstories of Armand and Marius
Our biggest complaint about The Vampire Lestat is that it completely omitted the backstories of Armand (Assad Zaman), and his maker, Marius de Romanus (Christopher Heyerdahl). Their stories give context and history to the vampiric race, taking us to Renassaince Italy and ancient Rome. And ultimately, their backstories help to set up who and what Akasha is. For inexplicable reasons, TVL spent more time on Lestat’s tour bus than covering these vital chapters of the book. True, a Queen of the Damned season would already have a lot to cover. But we think these two characters need their chapters of Anne Rice’s second vampire novel brought to life.
Introduce Khayman of the First Brood
One of the new vampires introduced in Rice’s The Queen of the Damned was the 6,000-year-old Khayman. He was once a steward in the court of Queen Akasha and King Enkil. When Akasha became the very first vampire, she transformed Khayman into a being like herself, right after turning Enkil, thus making him the third vampire to exist. Akasha forced Khayman to commit horrible acts upon the twins Maharet and Mekare against his will. These acts spurned him to commit treason against his immortal rulers.
After becoming a vampire himself, part of “The First Brood,” he passed on the Dark Gift to the twins in an act of rebellion against Akasha. He later forgot his own origins after many centuries, taking on many names, including “Benjamin the Devil.” When Akasha arose in the modern era, he remembered his past, and joined with those who tried to stop her. There is some speculation that Louis’ romantic partner in The Vampire Lestat, Lemuel Babangida (Joseph Sumney), may actually be Khayman, and not even remember it, which would be a very fun twist.
The novel has many other elements we’d love to see, but we see these as essential. We hope the producers recognize how crucial they are to the success of Rice’s beloved gothic classic. In the meantime, you can stream Interview with the Vampire and The Vampire Lestat on AMC+.