A lot has changed since the original Candyman arrived in 1992. And with producer Jordan Peele and director Nia DaCosta reviving the iconic urban legend horror for a 2020 ‘spiritual sequel’, that meant there was plenty of inspiration to mine in order to bring Bernard Rose and Clive Barker’s up-to-date. The new Candyman, coming from Peele’s Monkeypaw Productions, returns to the Cabrini-Green projects, but will address how such neighbourhoods are being gentrified.
While OG Candyman actor Tony Todd is confirmed to return in some capacity, the focus here is on Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, best known for playing Black Manta in Aquaman, and [REDACTED] in Damon Lindelof’s Watchmen series. Here he's Anthony McCoy, a man who unwisely invokes the urban legend two decades on. “He’s an artist who lives in the neighbourhood,” DaCosta tells Empire, “and part of the movie is him figuring out his place there as a Black gentrifier. His identity is a really cool part of this film.”
Read Empire’s full Candyman story in the Black Widow issue – coming to newsstands from Thursday 19 March, and available digitally via the Empire Magazine app on iOS and Android. Candyman, as things currently stand, is due to arrive in UK cinemas from 12 June.