Evan Peters as Dahmer
Once again, Evan Peters is slated to make millions of people question their attraction to a serial killer.
The angsty teens who loved Peters as emo ghost Tate Langdon in Season 1 of American Horror Story are now adults, and 34-year-old Peters is taking on a new role as Jeffrey Dahmer. Ryan Murphy and Ian Brennan will collaborate on the show, which is slated to be a 10-episode Netflix series called Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story.
The show will apparently be based on the perspectives of Dahmer's victims, and will explore the police's mistakes and mishaps as they tried and failed to track down the notorious murderer.
According to Deadline, "The series dramatizes at least 10 instances where Dahmer was almost apprehended but ultimately let go. The series also is expected to touch on white privilege, as Dahmer, a clean-cut, good-looking white guy, was repeatedly given a free pass by cops as well as by judges who were lenient when he had been charged with petty crimes." Ultimately, the show will emphasize that Dahmer's delayed prosecution was due to "white privilege, racism, and homophobia," the article continues.
Dahmer was convicted for the murders of sixteen men during his disturbing reign of terror between 1978 and 1991. His crimes were particularly shocking thanks to his love of necrophilia and cannibalism. Known for hoarding and preserving body parts of his victims, sometimes painting and refrigerating them, Dahmer's efforts made him an infamous serial killer — as did his amiability and conventional handsomeness, which became public knowledge during his trial. Eventually, he was diagnosed a sexual sadist with antisocial personality disorder and sent to life in jail, where he was eventually bludgeoned to death.
If you're having flashbacks to another film about Dahmer starring a floppy-haired famous actor, you're not wrong. In 2017, Disney star Ross Lynch played the madman in the film My Friend Dahmer. Some people feel that it's too soon for yet another film about the murderer, who is already the subject of several documentaries and Hollywood features.
i just remembered jeffery dahmer was gay. ryan murphy show on him about to be hell— paulˣ (@paulˣ) 1616544874.0
"Didn't they already make a movie about this guy with Ross Lynch???? Ryan Murphy go give 'Pose' an extra season instead of this," wrote one person on Twitter.
didn't they already make a movie about this guy with ross lynch???? ryan murphy go give pose an extra season instea… https://t.co/WY9fPm98SU— jo (@jo) 1616580091.0
ryan murphy casting evan peters to play jeffrey dahmer feels like a crime because ross lynch already played him in… https://t.co/7Q1SwRLLnp— ً (@ً) 1616562106.0
Others are just excited to have more true crime to sink their teeth into.
Ross Lynch did a chilling, haunting, portrayal of Jeffrey Dahmer. I'll never forget it. But I also know that Evan… https://t.co/1FgHpqo7wx— NikiaSarang💜🇨🇦 (@NikiaSarang💜🇨🇦) 1616555532.0
The film will also feature Shaun J. Brown, Penelope Ann Miller, Richard Jenkins, Niecy Nash and Colin Ford. Nash will play a neighbor who tried and failed to report Dahmer to the authorities, while Miller and Jenkins will play Dahmer's mother and father whose efforts to report their sadistic son also failed.
This won't be the first time Peters has played a killer—he portrayed everyone from Charles Manson to James March (based on Chicago World's Fair serial killer H. H. Holmes) and though he previously stated he was done playing evildoers as part of Murphy's twisted television universe, that resolution was apparently short lived. More recently, Peters starred as Quicksilver on WandaVision.
Monster (yes, that is the same title as the Charlize Theron film) is expected to be a 10-episode Netflix series.