Henry Thomas will be best known to many of you for his iconic role in E.T. and his recent horror work alongside filmmaker Mike Flanagan. Earlier this year, he stole the show in Netflix's The Fall of the House of Usher and now returns to that realm with Paramount's Pet Sematary: Bloodlines.
The movie, which is based on the untold chapter from Stephen King's bone-chilling novel Pet Sematary, follows a young Jud Crandall in 1969. Serving as a prequel to the original story, Thomas plays Jud's father, Dan, as part of a cast which also includes Forrest Goodluck, Jack Mulhern, Natalie Alyn Lind, Pam Grier, and David Duchovny.
We had the good fortune to catch up with Henry last week to discuss his role in Lindsey Beer's horror prequel and made sure to ask whether he'd be open to another superhero project. The actor played the original Dr. Mid-Nite in The CW series Stargirl and later lent his voice to "Chuck," Dr. McNider's artificial intelligence.
Despite briefly suiting up in the DC Universe, however, the Pet Sematary: Bloodlines star admits the genre isn't one that's calling out to him.
"Well, you know, I’ve just come off strike and I need a job. I’m not going to say no [Laughs]," he jokingly responds in the video above. "I do have to admit, I’m not really - and never have been - crazy about the superhero genre. I do appreciate it and I liked comic books when I was a kid a bit, but I never really got into it."
"I feel like it’s become the Western for our age. It’s this overplayed genre," Thomas admits. "I know it’s gotten a lot of flak as not being real cinema and all this [Laughs] which, arguably so, but it is entertainment and people have responded to those things. That’s what we’re meant to be doing, anyway, but at the same time, I would like to see something new."
"I would like to see a revival of historical genre films or maybe mainstream fantasy. It would be cool. There are a lot of stories that can be told which haven’t been yet."
It seems the actor's brief stint as part of the DC Universe did little to sell him on a genre that, in recent years, has become increasingly divisive. As much as we'd love to see him in the MCU or the new DCU, the actor isn't keen...still, in the meantime, we'd strongly recommend checking out his work in Pet Sematary: Bloodlines!
You can watch the trailer below. We'll also be sharing our full conversation with Henry a little later today!
In 1969, young Jud Crandall dreams of leaving his hometown behind, but soon discovers sinister secrets buried within and is forced to confront a dark family history that forever binds him to Ludlow. Banding together, Jud and his childhood friends must fight an ancient evil that has gripped the town since its founding, and once unearthed has the power to destroy everything in its path.
Find out why sometimes dead is better when the terrifying prequel Pet Sematary: Bloodlines arrives to buy on Digital December 5, 2023 and debuts on 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray and DVD December 19 from Paramount Home Entertainment.