Future M3GAN sequels could face the same physical appearance problems that the Chucky and Terminator franchises have suffered with their lead antagonists. Neither a doll possessed by a killer's spirit nor a member of a dystopian robot army, M3GAN is the sole invention of a toy designer, whose genius creation only becomes a threat through the rapid evolution of its artificial mind. Yet, M3GAN can be as deadly as Chucky or a Terminator, if she so desires.
As smart, strong, and durable M3GAN is, she isn't invincible. Gemma (Allison Williams) and Cady (Violet McGraw) are able to destroy M3GAN by themselves, tearing her body apart and smashing the chip that serves as her brain. M3GAN's sequel-teasing ending suggests that the doll managed to preserve her consciousness wirelessly, which all but confirms that she will return in M3GAN 2.0. Without her original body, M3GAN risks repeating the same missteps as Chucky and the Terminator's with regard to her appearance.
M3GAN 2 Needs A New Doll Or A Believable Explanation For Her Return
In the first Child's Play, Chucky is finally defeated once he's burnt to a crisp, decapitated, and shot through the heart. Obviously, Chucky returns unscathed in the sequel, only to be blasted into pieces, crushed, dismembered, stabbed, and strangled. Similarly, Arnold Schwarzenegger's many Terminators are completely obliterated by the end of each movie, only for the iconic T-800 to come back looking roughly the same in almost every sequel. Although Chucky and Terminator's endless returns keep their legend alive, they also make each appearance more absurd, as the audience already knows that they will keep coming back with the same relatively unscathed appearance — as if nothing happened.
The reason behind Chucky and Terminator's increasingly ridiculous returns relates to their fame. Their successive movies wouldn't be the same if they came back in a different body, as the audience expects to see their original look in each sequel. M3GAN faces the same problem in M3GAN 2.0 — she will either have to look like a different robot and risk losing the original's recognition or find a way to recreate her original body and justify why exact copies of the original M3GAN exist, considering how contrived and unlikely that might be.
How M3GAN Can Avoid Chucky & Terminator’s Appearance Problem
M3GAN already teased a solution to this dilemma. Before M3GAN went rogue, Funki created ads depicting a variety of different models with different hairstyles, eyes, and skin colors. They all seem unique, yet still similar enough to resemble the original M3GAN. When M3GAN returns in the sequel, she could possess one of those prototypes, with the freedom to choose whether to keep her new body as is or adapt it to resemble her original self. M3GAN's new body can awaken a sense of familiarity without having to create an endless supply of exact copies the way Good Guy Chucky dolls and Arnold Schwarzenegger-modeled Terminators never seem to run out.