The Big Picture
- The jackal in
The Omen
films symbolizes a connection between the human world and demonic forces, emphasizing the Antichrist’s birth as pure evil. -
The First Omen
adds new layers to the jackal mythology, revealing Sister Margaret’s terrifying connection to the dark entity. - Director Arkasha Stevenson hopes to explore the jackal’s origins in a potential sequel, unraveling the mystery behind its involvement in satanic rituals.
In the haunting corridors of horror cinema, few symbols stir as much dread as the jackal from The Omen films. A creature both utterly vile and shrouded in myth, the jackal’s role in the speculation surrounding the birth of the Antichrist has been a topic of fascination and fear for horror fans. With the release of The First Omen, directed by Arkasha Stevenson, new layers to this dark mythology have been added, deepening the mysterious lore of the jackal. The First Omen serves as a prequel to the 1976 classic, focusing on Sister Margaret, played by Nell Tiger Free. As she hunts deep into the dark recesses of a Rome orphanage, Margaret uncovers a horrifying conspiracy.
At first, Margaret thinks a young girl named Carlita, who has the Mark of the Beast in her mouth, is the chosen carrier for the Antichrist. However, a twist reveals that Margaret has terrifying visions and suppressed memories showing she has the infamous 666 mark on her head. The shocking discovery makes her another possible vessel for evil powers, secretly safeguarded by the Catholic Church until the right time. In a troubling memory, Margaret recalls a horrifying experience with a male jackal, a connection that goes straight back to the original film. After an evening out, she has an abominable flashback where she recalls being sexually assaulted by a humanoid jackal on an altar, an attack which was designed to conceive the Antichrist. The dreadful event not only directly ties her to the demonic bloodline but also revives the story of the jackal’s involvement in the satanic rituals of the series.
The jackal’s origins and purposes within the series remain profoundly mysterious, a point that Stevenson herself highlighted when talking to Collider’s Perri Nemiroff. Stevenson expressed a deep curiosity about the jackal, explaining a keenness to explore the jackal’s history in more detail if a sequel to the film goes ahead.
“I think that it pertains to the jackal. I think the jackal’s still a huge mystery and understanding where it came from and why and how they’re able to capture it and utilize it. I have a lot of theories about that, and I think that’d be an interesting thing to explore.”
What is the Mythology Behind the Jackal in ‘The Omen’?
In the broader context of The Omen films, the jackal symbolizes a bridge between the human world and demonic forces. Originally, the jackal was mentioned as the literal mother of Damien, the Antichrist, in the 1976 movie. That connection emphasised the unnatural and disturbing nature nature of the Antichrist’s birth, marking him as a being of pure evil destined to bring about the apocalypse as prophesied in doomsday doctrine of the Christian faith.
The mythology surrounding the jackal in The Omen series taps into ancient fears and cultural representations of jackals themselves. Often associated with death and the afterlife, particularly in Egyptian mythology where the god Anubis, depicted with a jackal’s head, presides over mummification and the afterlife.
The First Omen is playing in theaters now.
The First Omen
A young American woman is sent to Rome to begin a life of service to the church, but encounters a darkness that causes her to question her faith and uncovers a terrifying conspiracy that hopes to bring about the birth of evil incarnate.
- Release Date
- April 5, 2024
- Director
- Arkasha Stevenson
- Main Genre
- Horror
- Writers
- Tim Smith , Arkasha Stevenson , Keith Thomas , Ben Jacoby , David Seltzer
