Candyman: Colman Domingo Explains Ending With Yahya Abdul-Mateen II Scene

Candyman ended with an intense series of events, to say the least! The horror film directed by Nia Da Costa (who goes on to helm The Marvels for a 2022 release) revisited the famous horror legend of Candyman, originally immortalized in movie form with Tony Todd in the 1992 movie. This time around, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II stepped in for a key role in the saga as Anthony McCoy (one which thoroughly satisfied fans of the original) and it called for Colman Domingo to step in as a character who largely facilitated Anthony’s story. In an exclusive interview with ComicBook.com, Domingo opened up about his role in the end of the new Candyman movie.

Major spoilers for Candyman follow! In the final act of the new Candyman movie, Domingo’s William Burke peels back the curtain on his hopes of bringing the myth he has long been speaking of back to this reality. Burke is ready to have Anthony fulfill his destiny of seeking revenge for those without a voice or ability to do so for themselves, albeit in brutal fashion, according to Domingo’s take in our exclusive interview.

“I think that my character has been holding onto this trauma and the ways to repair it in someway,” Domingo explained. “He believes it is time to resurrect the myth of Candyman, that there is such a purpose with so much of… whether it’s gentrification, whether it’s people glossing over tragedy in history, it’s about saying their names… I think that very much, he’s like, ‘Oh, no, no. You’re not going to forget this. I’m gonna make sure that he continues to live.’ Because, if his myth stays alive, so will these people’s stories, as well. You can’t forget this trauma so I think that that’s his motivation throughout this entire film. I think that he’s been waiting, and waiting quietly, for Yahya to come back.”

The sequence at the end to essentially bestow the Candyman mantle upon Anthony called for Burke to chop off the other man’s hand and replace it with a creepy hook. It got bloody in the film and even messier on set.

“And then the scenes with Yahya, they were fun, man but also it was messy for me,” Domingo recalled, enthusiastically (as you can see in the video above or in the longer interview available now on YouTube). “I had like a, I swear it was like a two-, three-page monologue where I had to dress him and chop off his hand and we did a few of those in one take of me just making this whole… this was his moment. This was his Frankenstein moment where he’s like, ‘I’m gonna build this whole thing and I’m gonna give it all that I’ve got and then, on top of it, I’m going to give us both some suckers with razor blades in it and cut off my own tongue.’ He went over the cliff! He had an intention and I think it went a little further than he imagined it but he was like, ‘Now that I’m doin’ this, I guess I’m cuttin’ off an arm! I’m goin’ full out now,’ with great conviction!”

What did you think of Candyman? Share your thoughts in the comment section or send them my way on Instagram! Candyman is now playing in theaters.