Image via Universal Pictures
We’ve been waiting on the Candyman revival for a little over a year. It was supposed to come out in June 2020; the pandemic threw a wrench into that plan, postponing the long-awaited return of the horror icon. But based on the initial buzz and reactions, the delay will have been worth it.
The movie, which is brought to us by Jordan Peele’s Monkeypaw Productions, was co-written by Peele, Win Rosenfeld, and Nia DaCosta—who also directed the film—is a direct sequel to the original Candyman from 1992. It takes us back to the Cabrini-Green Housing Projects, now torn down and gentrified into upper-class condos. But the legend and presence of Candyman still festers and thrives in some people’s memories.
Here is everything we know so far about Candyman, which hits theaters nationwide on August 27.
A sequel and a retcon
This movie is not a “reboot,” “remake,” or “reimagining” of the original 1992 movie. It is a direct sequel that features characters from the first film. The two sequels that already exist—1995’s Candyman: Farewell to the Flesh and Candyman: Day of the Dead (1999)—are not part of this new continuity.
The Halloween franchise did something very similar when they released Halloween (2018) as a direct sequel to the 1978 original, which de-canonized the nine(!) intervening sequels between them.
Meet director Nia DaCosta
Nia DaCosta is the director and co-writer of the new film. She first made her mark with the indie film Little Woods, which premiered at the Tribeca Festival in 2018. She is currently directing The Marvels, set for release in 2022. The Marvels is the sequel to 2019’s Captain Marvel and will introduce Kamala Khan (bka Ms. Marvel) to the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
...and co-writer/producer Jordan Peele
Jordan Peele is producing the film through his company Monkeypaw Productions. Peele founded the company in 2012 to produce his films, beginning with Key and Peele comedy Keanu (2016) and continuing with his breakout horror hit Get Out (2017).
Peele’s transition from award-winning comedy (Key & Peele won two Emmys and a Peabody) to horror (Get Out won an Oscar for its screenplay) has been exciting to witness. Peele’s directing his next feature, Nope, which stars Daniel Kaluuya and is set to be released on July 22, 2022.
Familiar faces
Because this is a direct sequel, there are several characters from the original film who appear in this new one. Helen Lyle (portrayed by Cassie Kramer instead of Virginia Madsen), the heroine from the previous film, returns. So does Anne-Marie McCoy (reprised by Vanessa Estelle Williams), who spoke to Helen about the urban legend of Candyman.
The film centers around Anthony McCoy, the infant son of Anne-Marie who Helen saved at the end of the first movie. In the new movie, he’s an adult played by Yahya Abdul-Mateen II. Most importantly, the original Candyman is back, reprised by actor Tony Todd.
The new class
Other characters include Anthony’s girlfriend Brianna Cartwright (Teyonah Parris, WandaVision), and Cabrini-Green old-timer William Burke (Colman Domingo, Euphoria), who informs Anthony about the Candyman legend.
What happened in the first film?
Candyman (1992) was based upon the short story “The Forbidden” by Clive Barker. In the first movie, Helen Lyle was a white grad student in Chicago, who was investigating the urban legend of Candyman, a malevolent spirit with a hook arm who haunted the Cabrini-Green Housing Projects.
We learned, from the oral histories of several black Chicago residents (and one smarmy white professor) that Candyman had been blamed for several murders in the area, which were triggered by a person saying “Candyman” five times in a mirror.
We further learned that Candyman (real name: Daniel Robitaille) was the son of a slave, who was lynched for impregnating a white woman; the mob cut off his arm with a rusty saw and then covered him with honey, allowing him to be stung to death by bees.
How did the original 'Candyman' end?
The twist ending of 1992’s Candyman [Ed note: Obvious spoilers]: It turned out that Helen was the reincarnation of the white woman who Candyman impregnated. Candyman framed Helen as a serial murderer, then tried to reclaim her by kidnapping Anthony, threatening to kill the child if Helen did not comply. The movie ended with Helen sacrificing her life to save Anthony’s. She then became a malevolent spirit, who, like Candyman, could be summoned by saying her name in a mirror five times.
The current story (so far)
In the years since the events of the first movie, the Cabrini-Green Housing Projects were torn down, and gentrified luxury condos were erected in their place. One of the new residents is the adult Anthony, now a visual artist. He begins exploring the Candyman myth through his paintings, which summons a new series of horrific events.
New Candyman?
In addition to the original Candyman played by Tony Todd, there is a new Candyman as well, played by Michael Hargrove. This Candyman’s origin story is that he was falsely accused of putting razor blades in candy, and was subsequently tortured and killed by cops. Perhaps the filmmakers are exploring how urban myths change and evolve in accordance to modern society.
Deeper themes
The cool thing about Jordan Peele is that he always wants his horror audience to think, rather than simply be scared. Get Out was about more than body horror; it was about calling out white limousine liberals, the difficulty of interracial relationships, and the objectification of Black bodies.
It makes sense that Peele would gravitate towards a project like Candyman; the original movie depicted a racially segregated social and economic class system, and the origin of Candyman via lynching showed how white supremacy and violence laid the foundation for these inequalities. The sequel will also touch on these topics, in addition to police violence and gentrification.
Centering the Black experience
One key detail about this sequel is that it will center the Black experience. The original film cast Helen as a “fish out of water,” a white protagonist who learned about Black trauma over the course of the movie. The new sequel, which stars Black characters in all the lead roles, will take a different tack and will strive to show more than just pain and suffering.
“Trauma has been, obviously, a very, very real, visceral part of the Black experience in America, but we’re so much more than our trauma,” said Yahya Abdul-Mateen II in an interview with The Guardian. “What about joy? And love? And what about magic and hopefulness and possibility? And the everyday mundane? Those are equally the stories that I care about bringing into the world, and that I plan to produce and develop.”
Candyman will hit theaters on August 27, 2021.