Will Patton Joins the 'Halloween' Sequel

With filming now officially underway on the upcoming Halloween sequel, the production has officially added Will Patton to the cast who will play a cop in the highly-anticipated horror film.

Patton was recently seen in the FOX series Shots Fired and has also starred in films like Armageddon, The Postman andThe Mothman Prophecies.

The actor joins Jamie Lee Curtis, reprising her role as Laurie Strode, Judy Greer, playing Laurie's daughter, Karen and Andi Matichak, who plays Karen's daughter Allyson. The film also recently added younger cast members Virginia Gardner, Miles Robbins, Dylan Arnold and Drew Scheid, presumably as Allyson's friends and classmates.

While the addition of Jamie Lee Curtis delighted fans, one of the more surprising additions to the cast is Nick Castle as "The Shape." The actor portrayed the stalking Michael Myers figure in the first movie, despite his face never being seen in the film. Curtis has reprised her role as Laurie in multiple sequels in the Halloween franchise, yet this marks Castle's first return to the series since the original 1978 film.

Another interesting element of Castle's involvement is that he is billed as "The Shape" instead of "Michael Myers." In the original film, Myers returns to his hometown of Haddonfield, Illinois 15 years after he murdered his sister on Halloween night. Myers targets various local teens of the town, focusing specifically on Laurie. After killing many of her friends, Myers ends his murder streak with Laurie, as his former doctor, Dr. Loomis (Donald Pleasence), shoots Michael to prevent further killing.

Throughout the entire original film, Laurie is relatively unaware of Michael's existence, other than thinking she sees him around town from a distance. By the end of the film, she still has no idea why she was targetted by the killer.

In Halloween II, audiences learn that Myers returned to Haddonfield to kill Laurie because she is his sister and meant to kill her on Halloween night as well. This chapter in the series introduced the idea of Michael tracking down his family members to end his bloodline once and for all, a recurring theme in future sequels.

Castle's casting as "The Shape" removes the killer's personal identity, allowing filmmakers David Gordon Green and Danny McBride to explore any mythology they want and potentially erase the familial connection as a motivating factor behind the murders.

The upcoming Halloween sequel is set to be released on October 19.

[H/T Tracking Board]