Michael Myers was a little boy when he stabbed his sister Judith, but Halloween fans might be surprised just how old he is in the 2018 reboot. John Carpenter’s original 1978 Halloween movie is of course one of the most acclaimed horror films of all time, and its opening scene perfectly sets the stage. The viewer is literally walked through young Michael’s violent murder of his older sister Judith, seeing everything from the moments leading up to the brutal act to its aftermath outside the Myers house, all through his own eyes.
Following Michael’s killing of Judith, he was sent to Smith’s Grove Sanitarium, and spent 15 years under the care of Dr. Sam Loomis (Donald Pleasance). It turned out Michael was simply biding his time until the right moment to return to Haddonfield and claim more victims. 1981 sequel Halloween 2 infamously changed his motivation by making Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis) his sister, but all audiences watching the original film knew was that a dangerous, evil man was back on the hunt for blood.
Halloween 2’s “Laurie Myers” twist turned out to be just the beginning of odd alterations made to Michael’s backstory, including his eventual tie to a Druid cult. Thankfully, Halloween (2018) decided to simplify things by going back to basics, and serving as a direct sequel to Carpenter’s film. However, that was a long time ago, and like everyone else, Michael Myers has aged.
How Old Michael Myers Is In Halloween 2018
Michael Myers’ murder of his sister would’ve been awful no matter his age, but the fact that he was so young made things even harder to stomach. Michael was 6-years-old when he killed Judith, and children that young aren’t supposed to be capable of such shocking violence. According to 2002 sequel Halloween: Resurrection, Michael was born on October 19, 1957. While that film isn’t considered canon by Halloween (2018), Carpenter’s classic establishes that Michael killed Judith on October 31, 1963, so Resurrection’s birthdate still makes sense.
15 years later, on October 31, 1978, Michael Myers slaughters Laurie Strode’s friends and attempt to do the same to her. During that killing spree, Michael would’ve now been 21-years-old, so he could at least legally drink once his work was finished. Since Halloween (2018) ignores all the films after Halloween (1978), and is said to take place 40 years after Michael escaped from Smith’s Grove, this confirms that director David Gordon Green’s semi-reboot is set in its year of release, 2018. This means that Michael Myers is 61-years-old in Halloween (2018).
Michael’s age could theoretically be looked at as a plot hole, since he’s shown to be just as strong, fast, and vicious as he was in 1978, if not more so. This shouldn’t really be possible that close to retirement age, unless Michael worked out relentlessly during his 40 years locked away in a mental institution. That seems highly unlikely, and since Green and co-writer Danny McBride maintain that their version of Michael isn’t supposed to be supernatural, that makes his ability to do things like stomp people’s heads into jelly and survive Laurie’s house fire quite suspect. In the end though, most fans probably won’t have a problem overlooking this chronological oddity, since it led to a worthy Halloween sequel.
More: Halloween’s Biggest Plot Hole Explained
- Halloween 2 Release Date: 2021-10-15 Halloween 3: Season of the Witch Release Date: 1982-10-22
