Jordan Peele's 'Candyman' Remake Casts 'Aquaman' Star Yahya Abdul-Mateen II As The Hook-Handed Title Monster

Normally, the news of a classic horror film getting a remake fills our stomachs with dread. But the upcoming remake of 1992's Candyman? Bring it on. Get Out filmmaker Jordan Peele is producing. Little Woods director Nia DaCosta is behind the camera. And now, Aquaman star Yahya Abdul-Mateen II has joined the cast as the hook-handed ghost of the title, who is summoned when someone is stupid enough to say his name several times in a mirror.

Variety has the news of Abdul-Mateen's casting, but other than him taking on the lead role, details are locked down tight. What we do know is that the new film is one those "rebootquels," a film that attempts to act as a sequel to the original film as well as a fresh start, all at the same time. Specifically, the new Candyman will take place in the same haunted Chicago neighborhoods as the original, which have been gentrified in the years since the events of the first film.

Abdul-Mateen is very much on the rise. While his work as the villainous Black Manta put him on the big screen in front of a billion dollars worth of audiences, he also appeared in Netflix's cancelled but fondly remembered The Get Down and 2017's The Greatest Showman. He will soon appear in Jordan Peele's next directorial effort, Us, and HBO's upcoming Watchmen television series. While Aquaman didn't give the talented actor enough to do, it did prove that he can dominate the screen with seething menace...which is perfect for the role of Candyman.

Honestly, the biggest roadblock for Abdul-Mateen is that he has to fill the shoes of the legendary Tony Todd, who originated the character and played him in a handful of lesser sequels.

In the original film (based on the story by horror writer Clive Barker), a white grad student studying urban legends accidentally summons the titular ghost while poking her nose around Chicago's black neighborhoods. The original film's racial politics are, well, a little problematic by 2019 standards (although the film itself is still terrifying), but with Peele and DaCosta steering the ship here, it's easy to imagine them turning into the skid and making those issues actually work in favor of a modern retelling.

And that certainly seems to be the plan, since Candyman won't face down a white woman in the new film, but a black man played by Sorry to Bother You and Atlanta star Lakeith Stanfield. Yes. Put this movie in our eyeballs now, please.

Candyman is set to begin production this Spring and will hit theaters on June 12, 2020.