The Return & Real Meaning
Nia DaCosta's Candyman continues the story first established in the 1992 film. We break down the ending of the movie, Candyman's return, and more.
Warning: Major spoilers for 2021's Candyman.
After a year-long delay, Nia DaCosta’s Candyman, co-written by her, Jordan Peele, and Win Rosenfeld, was finally released in theaters, delivering a continuation of a story that began decades ago — and here is the ending of Candyman explained. The film is a sequel to Bernard Rose’s 1992 film of the same name, which was based on Clive Barker’s short story “The Forbidden.” The Candyman sequel picks up in the present day, with Anthony McCoy (Yahya Abdul-Mateen II) returning to Cabrini-Green, the location of the horrific events that took place in the first film.
DaCosta, who is directing The Marvels in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, explores real-life and supernatural horror in Candyman. Anthony’s return to Cabrini-Green, now as an adult artist living with his art curator girlfriend Brianna Cartwright (WandaVision's Teyonah Parris), also sees the comeback of the Candyman in the form of Daniel Robitaille and a new iteration in Sherman Fields, a Black man who was a victim of racist violence. The sequel references the events of the first film while advancing the story of Anthony and the effects of the mythology and gentrification on the area in the present. He is haunted by the Candyman and there’s something even more sinister going on when Anthony realizes what Cabrini-Green resident William Burke's (Colman Domingo) true intentions really are.
2021’s Candyman carries on the story that began in the 1992 film, though it stands alone as its own story. Like Candyman himself, the legend continues in DaCosta’s film, with the ending being the start of a new chapter to the saga. Here is Candyman’s ending explained, how the character returned, and the meaning behind it all.
Candyman 2021 Is All About Bringing Back The Original Candyman
While there have been sequels to 1992’s Candyman, including 1995’s Candyman: Farewell to the Flesh and 1999’s Candyman: Day of the Dead, Nia DaCosta’s Candyman is focused more on the story that started it all. The film is intent on going back to the beginning, highlighting Daniel Robitaille (the original Candyman) and Helen Lyle’s story from the first movie, while expanding further on the legend and the other iterations of Candyman that have come thereafter. However, everything that occurs in 2021’s Candyman is crucially linked to the original version of the character (played by Tony Todd) — bringing him back to the forefront in a major way — and his ties to Anthony McCoy, the one who got away. By returning to the origin story, the new Candyman is all about revisiting the past while forging a new future and revitalizing the legend by bridging the old with the new.
Anthony's Backstory: The Baby From The Original Movie, Chosen By Candyman
Anthony is one of Candyman’s chosen ones, a sacrificial lamb meant to fuel the fire of the spirit’s existence. After sacrificing two people to a fire, there was no way people would forget about the story. and the constant chatter about Candyman would keep his myth alive for many years to come. In the original film, Anthony was kidnapped by the Candyman, with his mother Anne-Marie believing Helen, a grad student, had taken him. However, Candyman was after both of them. Anne-Marie left Cabrini-Green after that, opting to raise her son in the Southside of Chicago instead; she never told him about what happened in the hopes he would live a normal life.
Her actions following the first film are why Anthony, despite being the baby from the original movie, didn’t realize he’d crossed paths with Candyman before. Anthony may have survived the fire as a baby, but the Candyman would go on to haunt his very life years later. The Candyman originally chose to sacrifice Helen, the protagonist from the 1992 film, and Anthony so that his legend could go on. However, Helen saved baby Anthony before stabbing the Candyman. She died from her own injuries, but the Candyman's longevity was thwarted because he didn’t have Anthony and people began to fear saying his name. Nearly thirty years later, the Candyman is back to carry out the sacrifice he never finished in the original movie and to bring the events full circle by taking Anthony at long last. Through Anthony, the chosen sacrifice, Candyman’s legend is now stronger than ever.
William Burke's Plan To Bring Back The Original Candyman Explained
While Candyman is the primary antagonist of the film, William Burke played a hand in rejuvenating the supernatural entity’s legend. He was the one who told Anthony the story of Sherman Fields, who became Candyman after being murdered by the police in 1977. In the present day, William was angry about the gentrification of the neighborhood and the city’s building of the new high-rises driving out much of Cabrini-Green’s Black community. He, more than anyone, believed not only that Candyman was real, but that Cabrini-Green needed him. William’s final action advanced Anthony’s transformation into the new Candyman. He kidnapped Brianna to be witness to the baptism, as it were, of Anthony shedding his original persona and reemerging as Candyman. William chose Anthony specifically to bring the story that began in 1992’s Candyman full circle.
William knew Anthony was the baby who got away from Candyman all those years ago and as soon as he knew Anthony was back in town, he began planting the seeds for Candyman's return. William had Brianna watch as he gave Candyman back what was rightfully his — the legend of his existence — by first cutting off Anthony’s hand and replacing it with a hook, rekindling the old legend with a new twist. Brianna being a witness to the proceedings, in William’s mind, would help to carry on the legacy of the Candyman. Through her others would know of what happened, which further fuels the mythology surrounding his existence. After all, myths live and die through the power of storytelling. William faked being terrified for a police call, knowing Anthony needed to die at their hands to be reborn as a full-fledged supernatural entity. However, William’s plan was thwarted when Brianna escaped. She kills William, but it’s too late: the cops arrive and do exactly what William anticipated they’d do, killing Anthony and completing his transformation into the legendary Candyman.
Why Candyman Kills The Police, Not Brianna
After seeing everything that happened — William creating a new Candyman through Anthony and the police killing her boyfriend — Brianna took a chance on summoning the vengeful spirit. Candyman kills the police for a couple of reasons, but the primary one is to protect Brianna, whose fate was in the hands of the cops who wanted to blame her for Anthony’s death after they killed him. In 2021’s Candyman, the character is more of a community protector (though there are a couple of contradictions), killing those who have wronged, harmed, or pose a threat to the Black community in and around Cabrini-Green. What’s more, Brianna doesn’t die at the hands of the Candyman because, in that moment, she believed in him and his legend. Candyman, now with a swarm of bees buzzing on and around his face, implores Brianna to make sure everyone knows about him. Killing Brianna would have halted the legend of Candyman and prevented it from getting out to the people. Brianna, in this instance, becomes the storyteller, the witness William wanted her to be so as to explain what happened during the reemergence of Candyman.
Why Tony Todd Is Candyman's True Form (Not Yahya Abdul-Mateen II)
Tony Todd’s Candyman — Daniel Robitaille — is the original version of the character, the man at the center of the myth. He was an artist and the son of a slave who lived in the late 19th century. Killed by a racist lynch mob after discovering Daniel’s relationship with a white woman named Caroline Sullivan, the killers covered him in honey to attract a swarm of bees and left him for dead, later burning his body on a pyre. Yahya Abdul-Mateen II’s Anthony is an extension of the original Candyman’s legend, with the 2021 film expanding on the story of how he and Candyman are linked. Anthony is not the originator of the myth, however, but his work as an artist and the tragedy that befalls him in the final act of the film show he’s a strong successor.
Anthony becoming Candyman doesn’t replace Todd’s iteration — rather, it strengthens it. Considering Daniel’s background and how he died, Todd’s version of Candyman will always be the character’s true form no matter what. 2021’s Candyman expanded on the legend of Candyman; Sherman Fields took on that persona after being killed by police in 1977, but it all falls back to Daniel, with him simply passing on the torch to others to carry on his story and to add theirs to the ongoing legend. But without Daniel, there wouldn’t be a Candyman at all, so it makes sense that Abdul-Mateen II’s character isn’t usurping his identity.
What Candyman 2021’s Ending Really Means
The ending of Candyman primarily signifies the carrying of the torch, the continuation of a legend that lives on through the power of storytelling. Myths are only able to survive through the people. Without them, Candyman’s legend would have died at the same time he did in the 1890s. As the old is shed and buildings are neglected or torn down, Candyman remains a tether to what was, a piece of history and a reminder of systemic injustice and violence. A portion of Candyman’s survival as a myth is also due to Anthony’s artwork, which depicts the many victims of racist violence.
Candyman’s existence, at least in relation to the film, explores generational pain and its impact on the Black community, how quick people are to discard violence and injustice against them. Candyman’s legend ensures these stories are heard, with the vengeful spirit now acting as a protector, killing those who invoke his name and to right any wrongdoing. In the original film, the bees originated because they were involved directly in Daniel’s death, with the beehive essentially representing the many Black men who have been unjustly killed since Daniel. DaCosta’s Candyman transforms the legend further by creating another Candyman in Sherman Fields.
William mentions several more who wrongfully died at the hands of racist white people as they all feed into the legend of Candyman. The hive that surrounds Anthony’s face in the end is also a representation of the collective community who has been harmed, with the Candyman exacting revenge on those responsible for it. Though one man originated the legend of Candyman, the beehive is significant because it’s made up of the other men who died, like Sherman, as they work together to carry on the legend and the supernatural work Daniel started. They’re all connected through tragedy and the mythology that keeps them alive and the bees work as the Candyman’s calling card, following him no matter where he goes, an equal part of the saga that has come to define him.
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