AMC’s Interview with the Vampire is only two episodes into its first season but it has already begun building out what promises to be an expansive world. The studio has plans to use Rice’s Vampire Chronicles and Lives of the Mayfair Witches novels to develop their own shared universe, called the Immortal Universe. Interview with the Vampire is the first of what could be many adaptations of the Vampire Chronicles and it will be followed in January by the Alexandria Daddario-led Mayfair Witches series. Episode 1 of Interview with the Vampire briefly teased the family of witches being present in New Orleans when Louis and Lestat were active there; now a name drop in Episode 2 could start the process of detailing the very long and twisting history of vampires in the Immortal Universe.
In the opening minutes of Episode 2, “After the Phantoms of Your Former Self”, Daniel Malloy inspects one of Louis’ “rare” relics: a painting from an artist named Marius de Romanus. When Malloy mentions he’s never heard of the artist, Louis’ assistant mentions that little of his work survived and both Malloy and the audience moved on. However, if AMC’s plans for the Immortal Universe play out as expected, it’s likely the audience will hear much more about and from Marius at some point in time.
One of the oldest vampires in existence, Marius is over 2,000 years old, having been born as a bastard in 30 B.C. Turned by a vampire named Teskhamen, who served the first two vampires, Akasha and Enkil, Marius was immediately an incredibly powerful vampire whose strength grew over time. Eventually, Marius came to be the caretaker of Akasha and Enkil, known as Those Who Must Be Kept, who he looked after for centuries. Marius made several fledgling vampires, most notably Armand, whose path is destined to intersect with Louis’, perhaps even in this first season.
Marius plays a major role in many of Rice’s sequel novels to Interview with the Vampire and it would be shocking if he didn’t appear in some form in the first two seasons before taking on a major role down the road. So far, AMC has done a fantastic job of planting the smallest of seeds and giving them time to grow and bear fruit down the road. Will the trend continue in Episode 3?
