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Jordan Peele’s ‘Candyman’ Casts Yahya Abdul-Mateen II

In September last year, rumors began to swirl in Hollywood about Jordan Peele revitalizing Candyman. While the official announcement was not made until November last year, our minds swarmed with wonderment of who could replace Tony Todd, if anyone, in the upcoming sequel. Not long ago rumors circulated that LaKeith Stanfield would step into the iconic horror role.  These rumors did not come into fruition. According to an exclusive report from Variety, the film set to start filming in the Spring this year has finally cast its star. Yahya Abdul-Mateen II is in talks to star in the upcoming sequel to the original.

Audiences recently saw the actor as Manta in DC’s Aquaman and he also appeared in The Greatest Showman as W.D. Wheeler. Abdul-Mateen is also set to appear in Us and Watchmen later this year as well. Ultimately we know he can play a villain, but Candyman is more than a villain. However, considering the frightening nature of Get Out and how terrifying the trailer is for Us, I have faith in this sequel and this casting decision.  Abdul-Mateen certainly has the potential to enhance his villain by striking pure fear into the hearts of audiences.

Upon putting the photographs featured above side by side, I also appreciate the slight resemblance of the  two actors. I would be lying if I said I still cannot imagine anyone else playing the role besides Tony Todd though. As a fan of many horror films it is always difficult to imagine anyone else in what are iconic roles in the horror genre. This is no different. However, knowing that the film will focus more on the neighborhood in the original film where the legend formed gives me further hope. The original location was where the Cabrini-Green housing projects once stood to bring a more authentic feeling to the sequel.

Candyman has become so much more to fans over the years and provided many horror lovers of the nineties their first real scare. Viewers became terrified that Candyman was going to come into our homes yet we stood in the mirror and said the name anyway. With Peele co-writing the feature and Nia DaCosta, the director of Little Woods, set to direct the feature my hopes continue to grow for the upcoming reboot of the franchise.  There’s so much that well written sequels can accomplish with this legend and I look forward to seeing what Peele and the rest of the cast and crew will do with one of Clive Barker’s most popular stories.

Candyman will appear on the silver screen once more in nationwide release on June 12, 2020.

What do you think of this casting decision?  Do you think Abdul-Mateen II is right for the role?  Should they have stuck with Tony Todd?  Let us know in the comments below!