Why Phantasm 2 Recast The Main Character (& Part 3 Changed Him Back)

Phantasm 2 recast main protagonist character Mike Pearson, but then Phantasm 3 restored the original actor, and here’s why that happened. In 1979, writer and director Don Coscarelli introduced the world to Phantasm, one of the strangest, creepiest, and most captivating tales of terror in the history of the horror genre. Quite a bit of Phantasm‘s narrative makes little to no logical sense upon first viewing, but that doesn’t necessarily hurt the film, as its nightmarish story begs to be re-watched and reexamined.

Appropriately, Phantasm‘s success would spawn one of the most peculiar franchises in horror, with each new installment managing to both answer some lingering questions and raise dozens of new ones. The Phantasm movies clearly aren’t designed for those who prefer their horror stories to end with things all tied up in a neat little bow, and as far as the series’ “Phans” are concerned, that’s exactly the way things were meant to be. There are certainly plenty of other franchises that offer viewers straightforward plot progression and easy to digest twists.

Of the five Phantasm films made to date, 1988’s Phantasm 2 is definitely the easiest to interpret of the bunch, although granted, that’s only when comparing it to the rest of the series. Still, it’s no coincidence that Phantasm 2 ended up that way, as it’s the only entry made with major studio backing, that being Universal. Phantasm 2 also jettisoned a familiar face, one that would thankfully return for future installments.

Why Phantasm 2 Recast Mike (& Part 3 Changed Him Back)

While Don Coscarelli had maintained for years that he had no intention of making a sequel to Phantasm, as he felt that the original worked as a standalone piece, Universal was quite eager to get one made, as they were keen to have a fresh horror franchise to call their own. So the studio gave Coscarelli $3 million to work with, far and away the biggest budget of the series. Along with that money came demands though, as Universal initially wanted the roles of Mike and Reggie to both be recast with new actors. Coscarelli was able to successfully fight for Reggie Bannister to reprise his role, but the studio stood firm on Mike, recasting original star A. Michael Baldwin with James LeGros.

Coscarelli has said that Universal wanted an actor actively working in Hollywood to play the lead, and Baldwin had left the business by that point. However, other claims going around online allege that Universal didn’t think Baldwin was handsome enough to lead the film. Whether or not that latter bit is true, Coscarelli actually had Baldwin come in and audition for the role he originated, in a last-ditch attempt to change Universal’s mind. They still didn’t budge. While LeGros does fine as Mike in Phantasm 2, and there’s no real animus toward him from Phans, it’s safe to say both Coscarelli and the Phantasm faithful were happy when Baldwin took the role back for Phantasm 3 and every subsequent sequel, which were all produced independently, enabling Coscarelli to control the casting.

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