Monster Season 3 Looks Like It Could Be True Crime Meets…

Summary

Charlie Hunnam will play Ed Gein in Monster season 3, suggesting it will explore true crime meets Hollywood horror.
Tom Hollander casting as Alfred Hitchcock hints at a bigger story delving into the origins of Hollywood's fascination with serial killers.
The Original Monster may directly connect Ed Gein's influence on Hollywood, exploring the relationship between true crime and Hollywood horror.

Monster season 3 will begin filming later this month, with Charlie Hunnam set to play notorious serial killer, Ed Gein in the Netflix series. The sophomore season of Ryan Murphy's serial killer anthology series is still fresh in people's minds after its release last month, but the announcement of the next season has led to a lot of excitement for the future of the anthology series. A recent casting announcement has shed more light on what to expect from Monsters season 3, with acclaimed character actor, Tom Hollander signed on to play legendary horror director, Alfred Hitchcock.

It's a well-known fact that Norman Bates from Psycho was based on the real life crimes of Ed Gein. The presence of the horror maestro in Monster season 3 suggests it could be a true crime meets Hollywood horror origin story, and that is a very exciting prospect for fans. The series will be called The Original Monster, which is a direct nod to the influence Ed Gein and his gnarly crimes had on the Hollywood horror scene.

Tom Hollander Will Play Alfred Hitchcock In The Original Monster And His Casting Hints At A True-Crime Story Blended With The Origins Of Hollywood's Fascination With Killers

The Original Monster
Starring	Charlie Hunnam, Laurie Metcalf, Tom Hollander and Olivia Williams
Air Date	2025
Created by	Ryan Murphy and Ian Brennan

Fans of Ryan Murphy's serial killer anthology series got an exciting update this week, with the announcement of three new cast members who will join Charlie Hunnam in The Original Monster. Laurie Metcalf will play Gein's mother, Augusta, with this character being essential in the telling of the serial killer's origin story. However, the other two casting announcements were more surprising and hint at a whole other origin story. Tom Hollander's casting as Alfred Hitchcock and Olivia Williams' role as his wife, Alma Reville, point towards the blending of true crime and Hollywood. Ryan Murphy mapped out his plans for the upcoming third season in a recent interview with Collider:

Where did our cultural interest in serial killers begin? Where and how did this all start?’ Based on our research, the very first one who became a celebrity at that level was Ed, who was an instant crazy celebrity from the moment he was arrested.

monster-season-3-netflix-casts-tom-hollander-olivia-williams-and-laurie-metcalf

The Original Monster Casting Announcements

Tom Hollander as Alfred Hitchcock
Laurie Metcalf as Gein's mother, Augusta
Olivia Williams as Alma Reville

It was expected that The Original Monster would explore the influence Ed Gein had on Hollywood, but it wasn't clear if this exploration would actually include the Hollywood players themselves. However, these exciting cast additions point towards a much bigger story that won't be limited to Ed Gein's twisted tale, and it looks like it'll also delve into the inner workings of how Gein gave birth to Hollywood's fascination with serial killers.

The Relationship Between True Crime and Hollywood Horror Has Always Been Evident, But The Original Monster Looks Like It'll Explore It In A Very Direct Way

It was always expected that Ryan Murphy's third Monster outing would make reference to how Gein inspired the Hollywood serial killer craze, but knowing that it'll be directly connecting the dots with the appearance of Alfred Hitchcock is intriguing. True Crime is bigger than ever, and this series sounds like it'll provide the answer as to why so many people are fascinated by real life dark subject matter. Murphy teased the Hollywood backdrop to the story in the same interview with Collider:

The amazing thing that the show talks about is how many villains and how much pop culture is based on Ed Gein. Psycho, Silence of the Lambs, Texas Chainsaw Massacre, American Psycho and on and on and on and on.

It makes sense to feature Psycho as the main inspiration for Ed Gein's crimes as it was the first movie to do so, and it did it surprisingly soon after the crimes were committed. But from what Murphy has stated, it'll also explore all the inspirations since then. It might even break the fourth wall, and mention Netflix's own fascination with the true crime genre. Psycho was originally a novel written by Robert Bloch, who based the character of Norman Bates directly on Ed Gein, so there's a chance he could be featured in the story as well, but nobody has been cast to play the author yet. It's also unclear how exactly Hitchcock will fit into the story, as he never personally met Gein. However, the 2012 movie Hitchcock, did point towards his fascination with the butcher of Plainfield.