Universal Pictures and Blumhouse were on hand at San Diego Comic-Con to give attendees a sneak preview of Five Nights at Freddy’s 2. Returning stars Josh Hutcherson (The Hunger Games) and Piper Rubio (For All Mankind), who play the film franchise’s central brother and sister roles, Mike and Abby, were on hand to share some insight on what the siblings have been up to since the events of the first film.
“Mike and Abby went through a lot,” Hutcherson explained. “Mike is just wanting to get back to somewhat of a normal life, but that just can’t happen in Freddy’s world. Mike, in a way, is trying to fake it till you make it without fully working through all that stuff that happened, and then it happens to him again! Poor Mike.”
Hutcherson added that while he’s not deeply informed of the lore, he does lean on his co-star Piper Rubio (who plays his sister Abby) as the resident expert, adding, “I am existing as Mike and experiencing it, but I do glean some things from Piper’s insight.” But he did reveal that his favorite character from the universe is Mangle, and gave the Jim Henson Creature Shop credit where it’s due for making another Five Nights at Freddy’s icon really stand out in the practical ways the legendary monster maker can. “What Jim Henson’s puppeteering team and the creators and designers brought to life with Mangle,” Hutchinson continued, “it’s such another level of puppeteering and complicated everything. It’s just so cool to see that brought to life.”
While William Afton always comes back, the cinematic Afton, Matthew Lillard, was not on hand to discuss FNAF’s big bad at Comic-Con but did introduce his partner in slashers for the sequel, Skeet Ulrich (the other half of their Scream duo), via video. Ulrich has been the center of fan theories of him playing Henry Emily, the co-owner of the Five Nights at Freddy’s pizza franchise alongside Afton, and his answer feels like he’s all but saying this is probably the case. “I play somebody with a very particular and specific past,” Ulrich teased, adding, “And with a very deep emotional tie to what’s going on.”
Before the panel closed out, director Emma Tammi and producer Jason Blum introduced an extended clip that feels very Scream, in the sense that Gen Z starlet McKenna Grace is featured as the host of a paranormal investigator channel whose crew gets to visit the first Five Nights at Freddy’s location… the one where it all went wrong. You kind of get the feeling that she might be the Drew Barrymore of the film’s opening, as she gets a super creepy security guard to tour them through the wreckage.
The parlor itself is great; there’s a moat complete with a sunken, decayed boat, which makes me jealous that my local pizza parlor didn’t have one of those. The bridge and the in-the-round style of the original location make it feel like a demented Disneyland—it looks right out of the game, and you can’t help but want to see what doom is hidden behind the urban decay of the pizza company’s sordid past.
Grace’s character pushes the guard for more details about a very special animatronic that was only at that specific location—the Marionette. The crowd buzzed at the mention of the game’s fan favorite. She recounts its lore, describing how it would rise from a trapdoor to direct the show on occasion. As her channel partners record, they notice that the security guard has led them to the stage with the iconic animatronics, and under the tarp it’s pretty obvious they look bizarrely like new models ready for more terror trap mayhem.
Alas, the clip cuts away before we find out the real reason why they were led there, but we can tell it’s definitely bad news. We’ll have to wait until this holiday season to find out just why the haunted world of Five Nights at Freddy’s has reopened for more bloody business.
Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 opens December 5, 2025!
Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, what’s next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who.
