John Carpenter Reveals There's a 'Hint' About Who Turns Into The Thing — And This Fan May Have Worked the Whole Thing Out

Part of the magic of John Carpenter’s legendary 1982 sci-fi horror film The Thing is that the ending is left ambiguous. For the past 43 years, fans have wondered whether R.J. MacReady, played by Kurt Russell, or Childs, played by Keith Davis, turns into the movie’s central monster at the end, but Carpenter intentionally left fans guessing with absolutely no clues to how things shook down — until now. The master of horror revealed to Parasite and Mickey 17 director Bong Joon Ho at a special 4K screening of The Thing at the David Geffen Theater in Los Angeles on March 22 that there is a “giant hint” in the middle of the film reveals who eventually turns into The Thing at the end of the film. He went on to joke that he would reveal that coveted knowledge to anyone who sent an undisclosed sum of money “in an envelope to my house.” Carpenter also told the crowd that the actors themselves didn’t even know who would ultimately end up becoming The Thing. “They had no clue,” he admitted. “But they had to play it human, you see. The creature imitates perfectly. It could be one of us, it could be somebody in the audience, and there’s no way of telling. So I knew, they didn’t know.”As for the hint itself, indie director Joe Russo (not MCU favorite Joe Russo) unleashed his theory on the world via X / Twitter following the screening. “I think I found that hint,” Russo wrote.Russo noted that MacReady is told about the notion that the creature can replicate at the cellular level, which means that, for their safety, they should only be eating or drinking things that they alone have had contact with. Despite knowing this crucial detail, MacReady shares his liquor with Childs at the end of the film. This could potentially mean MacReady just forgot what he was told, but in Russo’s theory it more likely means he is, in fact, The Thing. "As soon as Childs drinks from the bottle, The Thing has won,” Russo says. “It’s beaten its most skeptical, final threat.”Of course, the brilliance of Carpenter’s film is that it ends before any of that is confirmed. But Russo offered further supporting evidence. He noted the last line of the film — "Why don't we just wait here for a little while, see what happens?" — is very apropos to the situation if MacReady has already become The Thing. The filmmaker’s thread also has an explanation for the moment we see MacReady kill The Thing: “[Did you see that] OR… did you watch a BETTER imitation kill a POORER imitation because it had a better chance of infiltrating society upon rescue."Some fans were definitely swayed by the theory, while others were stuck on the notion that Childs is the one who becomes the creature. "I still think it’s Childs because we don’t know his whereabouts for a long time heading into the final scene. But Keith David will tell you he’s 100% not The Thing," one fan added to the thread. Russo replied: "Carpenter said both actors don't know... Childs always felt like a red herring to me."Either way, it’s definitely a theory worth considering. Carpenter still manages to surprise and delight fans all these years later, and we’re lucky to still be getting bits and pieces of his wisdom. Lex Briscuso is a film and television critic and a freelance entertainment writer for IGN. You can follow her on Twitter at @nikonamerica.

Mar 24, 2025 - 17:22

John Carpenter Reveals There's a 'Hint' About Who Turns Into The Thing — And This Fan May Have Worked the Whole Thing Out

Part of the magic of John Carpenter’s legendary 1982 sci-fi horror film The Thing is that the ending is left ambiguous. For the past 43 years, fans have wondered whether R.J. MacReady, played by Kurt Russell, or Childs, played by Keith Davis, turns into the movie’s central monster at the end, but Carpenter intentionally left fans guessing with absolutely no clues to how things shook down — until now.

The master of horror revealed to Parasite and Mickey 17 director Bong Joon Ho at a special 4K screening of The Thing at the David Geffen Theater in Los Angeles on March 22 that there is a “giant hint” in the middle of the film reveals who eventually turns into The Thing at the end of the film. He went on to joke that he would reveal that coveted knowledge to anyone who sent an undisclosed sum of money “in an envelope to my house.”

Carpenter also told the crowd that the actors themselves didn’t even know who would ultimately end up becoming The Thing. “They had no clue,” he admitted. “But they had to play it human, you see. The creature imitates perfectly. It could be one of us, it could be somebody in the audience, and there’s no way of telling. So I knew, they didn’t know.”

As for the hint itself, indie director Joe Russo (not MCU favorite Joe Russo) unleashed his theory on the world via X / Twitter following the screening. “I think I found that hint,” Russo wrote.

Russo noted that MacReady is told about the notion that the creature can replicate at the cellular level, which means that, for their safety, they should only be eating or drinking things that they alone have had contact with. Despite knowing this crucial detail, MacReady shares his liquor with Childs at the end of the film. This could potentially mean MacReady just forgot what he was told, but in Russo’s theory it more likely means he is, in fact, The Thing. "As soon as Childs drinks from the bottle, The Thing has won,” Russo says. “It’s beaten its most skeptical, final threat.”

Of course, the brilliance of Carpenter’s film is that it ends before any of that is confirmed. But Russo offered further supporting evidence. He noted the last line of the film — "Why don't we just wait here for a little while, see what happens?" — is very apropos to the situation if MacReady has already become The Thing. The filmmaker’s thread also has an explanation for the moment we see MacReady kill The Thing: “[Did you see that] OR… did you watch a BETTER imitation kill a POORER imitation because it had a better chance of infiltrating society upon rescue."

Some fans were definitely swayed by the theory, while others were stuck on the notion that Childs is the one who becomes the creature. "I still think it’s Childs because we don’t know his whereabouts for a long time heading into the final scene. But Keith David will tell you he’s 100% not The Thing," one fan added to the thread. Russo replied: "Carpenter said both actors don't know... Childs always felt like a red herring to me."

Either way, it’s definitely a theory worth considering. Carpenter still manages to surprise and delight fans all these years later, and we’re lucky to still be getting bits and pieces of his wisdom.

Lex Briscuso is a film and television critic and a freelance entertainment writer for IGN. You can follow her on Twitter at @nikonamerica.