We are so on board for Jordan Peele’s clever reinvention of Candyman, Ars Technica

Don’t say his name –

“The writing on the wall. The sweet smell of blood. Be my victim.”

Yahya Abdul- Mateen II ( Us, Watchmen ) stars as visual artist Anthony McCoy in Candyman , Jordan Peele’s re-imagining of the s horror franchise.

A visual artist inadvertently reawakens a monster from a Chicago urban legend in the first trailer for Candyman . Co-written by Jordan Peele and director Nia DaCosta (best known for her (film) Little Woods , it’s technically another sequel to the A film that inspired it rather than a straight-up remake. In fact, it looks to be following the trend of such recent projects as

Watchmen

and

Cobra Kai

: honoring the prior storyline (s) while bringing them firmly into the present day.

(Spoilers for original film below.)

Based on the Clive Barker short story “The Forbidden,” the (original) Candyman starred Virginia Madsen as a Chicago graduate student in sociology whose thesis deals with urban legends. She hears about a series of murders in the Cabrini-Green public housing project. The killer is rumored to be the ghost of a late th-century artist named Daniel Robitaille (Tony Todd) who was lynched because he fathered an illegitimate child with a white woman. The mob cut off his right hand and smeared him with honey to attract bees to sting him before scattering his ashes over what is now the project’s grounds.

The legend holds that anyone can summon Candyman by repeating his name five times while looking in a mirror. Candyman will then appear to kill the summoner with a hook in place of his mangled stump. Helen’s disbelief in the legend reawakens Candyman, who embarks on a new series of murders while framing Helen as the perpetrator. (There are hints that Helen is the reincarnation of the woman Daniel once loved.)

It’s easy to see why Peele would be drawn to the story, given the original’s themes of race and social class in Chicago’s public housing projects. The original Candyman himself, Tony Todd, is on record saying , “I’d rather have him do it, someone with intelligence, who’s going to be thoughtful and dig into the whole racial makeup of who Candyman is and why he existed in the first place.” Peele is also fascinated by doppelgängers and mirror imagery, and Candyman offers both in abundance.

Yahya Abdul-Mateen II stars as Anthony McCoy, a visual artist who moves into the gentrified Cabrini-Green neighborhood in Chicago.

Anthony’s live-in girlfriend Brianna is a gallery owner who questions why he’s so fascinated by an urban legend.

YouTube / Universal Pictures

Candyman. Candyman. Candyman. Candyman.

YouTube / Universal Pictures

Traumatized for life.

YouTube / Universal Pictures

Anthony explores the old neighborhood.

YouTube / Universal Pictures

An old photo of a church.

YouTube / Universal Pictures

The church today.