Original Candyman Tony Todd Has “Mixed Feelings” on Reboot

Actor Tony Todd is an icon in the horror genre thanks to a number of memorable roles, though his turn as the titular villain in the Candyman series is arguably the favorite amongst fans. The actor admits that, had news of a reboot broken earlier in his career, he would have been upset, yet he’s now much more in support of the new reboot and the ways it might introduce new audiences to the character.

“I have mixed feelings because I thought they were gonna make this 15 years ago,” Todd shared with SYFY about the reboot news. “If this had been 10 years ago when I had heard news, I would have been devastated. I would have fought for it. Now I’m in a different place.”

The upcoming reboot is early enough in development that Todd doesn’t know if he’ll be asked to reprise his role or if he’ll play another character, but he noted that a new film will inspire audiences to check out the originals.

“I’ve got so many other options that even if they make it without me, which I doubt,” the actor admitted. “The attention the new movie will create will lead folks back to the original [film]because people like to see the source material.”

The original 1992 film was adapted from a story by Clive Barker. When grad student Helen Lyle (Virginia Madsen) begins working on a thesis looking at urban legends, she encounters the tale of the Candyman — the vengeful spirit of a hook-handed slave, who, it is said, can be summoned by saying his name five times in the mirror. As her research leads her into the bowels of Chicago’s deprived housing projects and deeper into the Candyman’s world, Helen learns that some legends are best left alone.

Variety described that the new film “returns to the neighborhood where the legend began: the now-gentrified section of Chicago where the Cabrini-Green housing projects once stood.”

The last entry in the franchise, Candyman: Day of the Dead, debuted in 1999, with the icon being absent from the horror zeitgeist for nearly 20 years. Regardless of his involvement in the reboot, Todd is excited to see the character become popular again.

“In 2018, I think there are a few neighborhoods that could use some Candyman justice, you know what I’m saying?” Todd noted. “I’m just happy that as an African-American man, that Candyman has once again been given the nod to enter people’s consciousness.”

He continued, “I hope that they don’t dance around the relationship between Candyman and the love of his life, the reason for his death and that they are actually allowed to kiss. [Back then] it was rare that African-American male film stars got to kiss any of the white leading ladies they worked with. I’m just speaking my mind here.”

Stay tuned for details new Candyman before it hits theaters on June 12, 2020.

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