Candyman Changed The Villain’s Name Origin (For A Second Time)

Nia DaCosta and Jordan Peele’s Candyman is rapidly approaching its final release date and a new Candyman trailer hints at a disturbing twist on the legend that adds even more tragic context to the villain’s name. The movie, which has been described as a spiritual sequel to the legacy of the first film, was originally slated for a summer 2020 release, which eventually became a September release after the initial wave of the deadly COVID-19 pandemic. As quarantine stretched out even longer than was anticipated, the movie was eventually removed from release schedules before being confirmed for an August 27th release date.

Although the original movie was followed up by two sequels, Farewell to the Flesh and Day of the Dead, the 2021 revival is set to be a direct sequel to the events of the first film. This time, instead of following Helen Lyle, a white college student writing her thesis on the effects of urban legends, the protagonist will be Yahya Abdul-Mateen II’s Anthony McCoy, the baby stolen by Candyman in the original film. Anthony is now grown up and an urban photographer telling the story of Cabrini-Green and the horrifying past of the neighborhood, which has since been gentrified. If the trailer is any indication, it seems as if Anthony’s photography will resurrect the legacy of Candyman from the grave, leading to a trail of bodies as well as a horrifying transformation within himself.

The original Candyman is an adaptation of Clive Barker’s short story “The Forbidden,” which gives its own explanation as to the villain’s famous moniker. Barker’s short story, of course, gives the first explanation of the boogeyman’s nickname. The reason for his name being “Candyman” is because the one recurring detail in every encounter witnesses have ever had with him is that he smells like candyfloss, more commonly known as cotton candy. Now Nia DaCosta looks to be adding her own twist to that legacy by introducing a new urban legend to explain the name. But even before that, Bernard Rose’s 1992 movie adaptation gave Candyman yet another explanation for his name.

In the original Candyman movie, he’s given a new origin story. Candyman was once a man named Daniel Robitaille, a free Black man in the 1800s with a talent for painting and art. He was contracted to paint Caroline Sullivan, the daughter of a wealthy white aristocrat, but during the process, they fell in love and Daniel eventually fathered a child with Caroline. When her father found out, he rallied a lynch mob. They cut off Daniel’s right hand, slathering him in honey and releasing hundreds of bees that then stung him to death, all the while watching him die while taunting him with the name “Candyman.” Born out of the violent circumstances of his death and the hatred he harbored for those who hurt him, Daniel returned to life as the vengeful specter Candyman, murdering anyone who dared conjure his legend.

It’s important to note that in the original Candyman, Helen Lyle studied urban legends. Candyman’s backstory, while treated as truth, is passed down through generations as a legend itself. This ties into the story told in the most recent trailer for 2021’s Candyman: In Nia DaCosta’s version, one explanation for Candyman’s origin is that he was an innocent neighborhood outcast who was known for giving candy to local kids. However, he was painted as the culprit for a spree of murders in which children were being killed with candy lined with razor blades. The corrupt Chicago PD falsely accused the innocent man of the murders and formed a lynch mob to kill him, only for the murders to continue, effectively exonerating him.

Much like the original film’s origins for the name, the newest film gives him a tragic backstory that ties directly to racial trauma while also explaining the origins of the killer’s name. Based on this meta-retcon, it’s evident that Nia DaCosta and Jordan Peele have a deep reverence for the horror story of Candyman and understand the horrific real-world implications the story holds.

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