‘The Black Phone 2’ Taking a Freddy Krueger Approach to Franchise Continuation

Scott Derrickson’s The Black Phone ended on a pretty definitive note, with the evil being vanquished and Ethan Hawke’s “Grabber” being killed by our hero. How do you make a sequel to a movie where the villain is very much dead? When did that ever stop the horror genre?!

The first footage from The Black Phone 2 was shown off by Universal & Blumhouse at CinemaCon last night, and while the footage won’t be making its way online – sorry, that’s just how it goes with CinemaCon – we do have footage descriptions from various reporters and outlets that all make the same observation – the Grabber is going full Krueger here in 2025.

What does that mean? Well, according to the footage recaps from Discussing Film and Screen Rant, The Black Phone 2 will see the Grabber stalking kids from beyond the grave.

Screen Rant recaps, “Teaser begins with a payphone/phone booth off the side of the road in winter. Finney is walking and sees a pay phone and stops. We then see three photos being placed on a table and then it cuts to a boy inside a basement, with someone very slowly and loudly walking down the stairs.

“Later, Finney answers the phone and the Grabber appears on the outside. ‘Hello Finney. Did you think our story was over? You of all people know that death is just a word.’ Finney is shown in the phone booth a lot, with scenes of the other boy (or kids) being attacked and nearly murdered. It’s pretty much like Freddy Krueger now.”

Discussing Film notes, “Finney (Mason Thames) appears to be living a sullen life, as his sister Gwen (Madeleine McGraw) is having strange visions. The repeated images of an out-of-order Black Phone and Gwen at a summer camp build to a reveal as the black phone rings: The Grabber (Ethan Hawke) is hanging around in the afterlife, out to make their life a living hell. The rest of the footage is pure nightmare fuel. There’s a striking image of The Grabber ice skating towards the camera in slow-motion.”

Discussing Film’s Andrew Salazar writes on X, “The Grabber goes full Freddy Krueger and is seeking revenge on the kids from the first movie from beyond the grave. He’s got full demonic powers now and can make children hallucinate incredibly cruel deaths.”

The Black Phone 2 opens in theaters on October 17 from Blumhouse and Universal.

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