Summary

The Nun II director Michael Chaves hints at the future of Valak, the demonic villain in The Conjuring Universe. Valak’s story continues in The Nun II, which is set in the ’50s and fills in more of the events between the first movie and where Valak was exorcised in the late ’60s. Valak’s survival in past movies suggests that demons are difficult to defeat, leaving room for potential appearances in future movies like The Conjuring: Last Rites or other spinoffs.

The director of The Nun II has teased the future of the demonic villain Valak. The entity, who takes the shape of a nun (played by Bonnie Aarons), is a major villain in The Conjuring Universe, who tormented Sister Irene (Taissa Farmiga), Father Burke (Demián Bichir), and their local guide Frenchie (Jonas Bloquet) at a secluded convent in the original 2018 hit The Nun. Now, Valak, Frenchie, and Sister Irene are set to return in the sequel The Nun II, which is currently expected to premiere in theaters on September 8.

SFX Magazine recently published an interview with Michael Chaves, the director of the upcoming The Nun II. During the interview, Chaves reminds viewers that, in the larger Conjuring Universe, Frenchie was exorcised by Ed (Patrick Wilson) and Lorraine Warren (Vera Farmiga) in the 1960s, which is further down the timeline from the Nun II’s late-50s setting. Chaves teased that “there’s still more stories of Valak the demon nun to be told” and quotes a line from the movie saying “demons are infinite.” Read his full quote below:

There’s a line in the movie: “Demons are infinite.” I like the idea that she’s always been here in different forms. I think that there’s still more stories of Valak the demon nun to be told. I wouldn’t want to give anything away, but this is continuing the timeline. Anyone who saw the first Conjuring knows that Maurice is possessed and then exorcised by the Warrens, and we know that that happens in the late ’60s in the Conjuring timeline. This is set in the ’50s so we’re still a ways off from that. The events of what happens in between this starts to fill out that story a little bit more. There’s other big ideas and big swings in there, and it’s filled with a bunch of cool Easter eggs. Without giving anything away it continues to fill out the picture and the bigger canvas.

Editor’s Note: This piece was written during the 2023 WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes, and the movie covered here would not exist without the labor of the writers and actors in both unions.

How Could Valak Show Up Again in The Conjuring Universe?

There is already precedent for Valak having survived the events of the timeline of The Nun. The demon’s first appearance in nun form occurred in 2016’s The Conjuring 2, setting up the new branch of the expanded universe. That movie took place in 1975, considerably later than the events of either The Nun or its sequel, while Annabelle: Creation even teased of Valak’s existence prior to the former movie via Sister Charlotte’s photograph from sometime in the late ’40s or early ’50s.

Valak was seemingly defeated at the end of The Conjuring 2, when Lorraine uses its true name to banish it back to Hell. That being said, the demon also seemed to have been vanquished at the end of The Nun with the use of the blood of Christ sealing it away. With Valak confirmed to have survived by latching a part of itself on to Frenchie, it seems possible The Nun II could end with a similar possession situation ensuring its future survival.

Related: The Conjuring 2: Every Time Valak’s Name Was Teased (In The Background)

It is unclear where Valak could appear in Conjuring movies beyond The Nun II and any potential direct sequels to that movie. With a fourth Conjuring movie titled The Conjuring: Last Rites in the works and seemingly set to bring a close to James Wan’s mainline horror franchise, that may have a spot for the demonic nun to appear. Otherwise, Valak might be saved for a later spinoff that is similar to 2019’s Annabelle Comes Home, which featured a variety of different supernatural villains working simultaneously.

Source: SFX Magazine

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