Character actor Robert Englund has played horror icon Freddy Krueger in every one of the A Nightmare on Elm Street movies, save for the poorly received 2010 remake of Wes Craven’s 1984 film, where Jackie Earle Haley took over the role. Robert Englund is Freddy, but he hasn’t donned the hat and claws in a feature film since 2003’s Freddy vs. Jason. Despite that, Robert Englund thinks he might have one more in him before passing the mantle off to someone else, as he explained:
We need a Freddy that can do the next eight movies – or seven, I don’t want them to remake Part 1 again. I’m not Freddy anymore, you guys. I could do one more…probably. If you shot me up with vitamin C. But here’s the thing. I can’t do eight more, you guys. So we need a new actor that you guys believe in and trust and love that can go the distance.
Speaking at New Jersey’s Monster Mania Con, recorded by Dead Entertainment, Robert Englund sounds down to play Freddy Krueger on the big screen, but don’t call it a comeback. It would be more like a farewell tour. He doesn’t sound particularly gung-ho about the idea of playing Freddy again though, perhaps because he is getting older. He’s in his 70s now, and as he said, he might need a concentrated dose of vitamins to be up to it.
So although Robert Englund didn’t rule out the possibility entirely and we could see him return as Freddy Krueger for one last hurrah, he is looking more towards the future. The actor seems to have some sense of ownership over the franchise and acting as its steward, he is concerned with who plays Freddy next, be it in the very next film or after his own swan song.
Since he knows that he can’t be Freddy anymore and be the one to carry the franchise forward, Robert Englund is concerned with the Nightmare on Elm Street finding someone who can. He wants a great replacement who is capable and committed for the long haul, as he was, to portray Freddie Krueger in multiple films, not just a remake of the first film, like the 2010 movie.
You can tell how much Robert Englund cares about Freddy Krueger and the fans and wants the franchise to find the right person for the job. On that front, he did voice his approval of a rumor he heard that Kevin Bacon could be up for the role. Robert Englund thinks him or someone like him is the man for the job, and he praised Kevin Bacon as the kind of real character actor who loves horror that would be right for it.
The question for horror fans now is, when will we finally see the next Nightmare on Elm Street film and when we do, will Robert Englund return to play Freddy or will a different actor come in to define the part for a new generation? It’s too early to know the answer to the latter part of that question at the moment.
As far as what’s going on with the franchise, David Leslie Johnson McGoldrick, writer of Aquaman, The Conjuring 3 and Aquaman 2 is attached to pen the script for a reboot. Around the beginning of the year, he indicated that the project is still happening, but it’s kind of on the back burner.
With the reboot craze and the horror renaissance both happening at once, it seems likely that A Nightmare on Elm Street will be haunting theater screens and our dreams sooner or later.
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