Horror fans have been beside themselves with glee with the news that Jordan Peele and Nia DaCosta are bringing back the Candyman in a reboot film. But what does the real Candyman, Tony Todd, think? As he told SyFy, he has “mixed feelings” because, as he said, he thought a new film was going to be made “15 years ago.”

“…If this had been 10 years ago when I had heard the news, I would have been devastated. I would have fought for it. Now I’m in a different place,” he said. “I’ve got so many other options that even if they make it without me, which I doubt, the attention the new movie will create will lead folks back to the original [film] because people like to see the source material.”

Todd also called Candyman relevant “particularly today, now more than ever.”

“In 2018, I think there are a few neighborhoods that could use some Candyman justice, you know what I’m saying?” he said. “I’m just happy that as an African-American man, that Candyman has once again been given the nod to enter people’s consciousness.”

Even though Todd initially said he had mixed feelings about the reboot, it seems like he’s overall ready to see what Peele and DaCosta are going to bring. As Todd told Nightmare on Film Street, Todd gave his blessing to Peele and the team.

“If Jordan wants to do it, do it,” he said. “I know I’d rather have him do it, someone with intelligence, who’s going to be thoughtful and dig into the whole racial makeup of who Candyman is and why he existed in the first place. I know he’ll give homage and I know that if it gets made, I’ll have a plate at the table one way or the other.”

In particular, he hopes that the film touches on the main crux of Candyman’s turn toward horror: his romantic relationship with a member of the white elite in the 1800s. As he told SyFy: “I hope that they don’t dance around the [interracial] relationship between Candyman and the love of his life, the reason for his death and that they are actually allowed to kiss. [Back then] it was rare that African-American male film stars got to kiss any of the white leading ladies they worked with. I’m just speaking my mind here.”

Peele and DaCosta’s Candyman reboot is slated for a June 12, 2020 release.

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