Does Carrie’s mum have powers? Mike Flanagan explains why he changed Stephen King’s Carrie

*Warning: Spoilers ahead for Carrie*

Mike Flanagan made some pretty major changes to Stephen King’s Carrie in his new series. And that includes showing what appears to be Carrie’s mother, Margaret White, with supernatural powers of her own. 

It’s not the only change we see in Margaret (Samantha Sloyan). Yes, she’s still uber religious, but in 2026, she’s also a conspiracy theorist who’s deeply suspicious of the deep state, chemtrails and government surveillance.

The Prime Video series also expands on the origins of Carrie’s (Summer H. Howell) telekinetic powers, introducing a mysterious group of women with psychic abilities, led by Adelaide (Kate Siegel).

The group has been keeping an eye on her, with new character Emaline (Thalía Dudek) using astral projection to befriend Carrie and gain her trust.

It’s a major expansion of something King only briefly explores in his original novel: the possibility of a hereditary “TK (telekinetic) gene”. This leads on to another big departure from the book, when it’s revealed in the finale that Carrie might not even be the first person in her own family to possess these powers.

Does Margaret White have powers in Carrie? 

Yes, Margaret does possess telekinetic abilities. But unlike Carrie, she’s spent years suppressing them and can’t access them in the same way her daughter can. 

The big reveal unfolds after Carrie brings their house crashing down. As Carrie emerges from the rubble, she sees Margaret using her powers to hold up part of the roof and stop it from crashing down on her. 

Although it does eventually fall and Carrie leaves with Emaline, Margaret survives. Later, during her interview with Adelaide, she reveals that she experienced something similar as a child, having moved a cross while praying. At the time, she believed it was a sign from God.

When Adelaide asks whether she can access those abilities again – which she calls the “shine”, a term King fans will know well – Margaret admits she can’t. Adelaide then uses her own powers to stop Margaret’s heart, killing her before arranging for her death to appear natural.

Why Mike Flanagan changed Stephen King’s Margaret

As for why Flanagan decided to give Margaret powers of her own in his Carrie, the showrunner explained that he wanted to explore the idea of parents recognising traits in their own children. And he also wanted to expand on the TK gene idea in King’s novel. 

Speaking to the Radio Times, Flanagan said, “Margaret White and Chris Hargensen were, both in King’s novel and the subsequent adaptations, irredeemable monsters. 

“But what if Margaret wasn’t a fanatical religious abuser? What if she was a woman who fiercely loved her daughter, and wanted to protect her from the cruelty of the world without knowing the best way to do so?”

On the topic of her powers, he told the outlet, “I feel like once you know that, if you go back to the beginning, she makes so much more sense – the intensity of what she’s protecting Carrie [from] because she knows that this is true. She knows what her daughter can do.

“What I loved about it was how many relationships between parents and their kids are coloured by this fact that they have so much more in common than they’ll ever admit, and how much of what parents will react to in their kids are things they’re actually reacting to about themselves, whether they know that or not. And I thought that was lovely.”

That said, he knew people would have “opinions” about the decision, but said “it just felt so appropriate as the final button for the two of those characters together. It felt tragic to me.”

It also ties into Flanagan’s wider plans to explore the origins of Carrie’s powers. As the showrunner previously revealed, he has a three-season arc planned out, if Prime Video gives Carrie a series renewal. 

In a conversation with Den of Geek, he said, “[King] is pretty explicit about the fact that Carrie is not unique in this ability. She’s very rare, but she’s part of a sorority of other gifted women that have this ‘TK gene,’ as King calls it. 

“An opportunity we had that a lot of the other adaptations didn’t have was we had the real estate to really explore that. There’s a much larger world that Carrie belongs to that she doesn’t know about. And I think one of the tragedies of King’s story is she never finds out. We had a chance to change that.”

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Featured image credit: Prime Video