Summary

• Five Nights at Freddy's is a popular video game that received a movie adaptation and now a sequel is in the works.
• The first Five Nights at Freddy's was largely a success with fans and the sequel needs to build off that success with more lore from the games.
• Bringing in Henry Emily and the Toy animatronics can help create an even better sequel.

Five Nights at Freddy's successfully transitioned from a popular horror video game franchise to a movie adaptation. Produced by Blumhouse and Universal Pictures, the FNaF movie was created with fans of the franchise in mind, and they wanted to make a film that made the fans happy and appealed to them more than the general audience. Despite being released to both theatres and streaming on Peacock simultaneously, the FNaF movie became a box-office smash, and it would be revealed at CinemaCon in April 2024 that Five Nights at Freddy's 2 would be released in Fall 2025.

The confirmation of a sequel ensures that fans of the franchise are in for another exciting film. Although many franchise fans were happy to receive the FNaF film after it was announced in 2015 and after so many delays, some fans weren't satisfied with the result. This begs the question: Can Blumhouse and Universal learn from the first film's blunders and continue to improve upon its success? It is essential to consider the key points and details from the video game lore, which will undoubtedly elevate this highly anticipated FNaF sequel.

Replacing the Animatronics With Their Toy Counterparts

• Five Nights at Freddy's was a box-office smash reeling in over $297 million.
• Five Nights at Freddy's has a critic rating of 32% and an audience rating of 87% on Rotten Tomatoes.

It is all but confirmed that the Five Nights at Freddy's 2 movie will be adapting the video game of the same title. As fans of the franchise know, the video game sequel is revealed to be a prequel at the end of the game. This raises questions about how (or why) FNaF 2 will be adapting the video game sequel, especially with the major cast such as Josh Hutcherson (The Hunger Games), Matthew Lillard (Scream; Scooby-Doo), Elizabeth Lail (You), and Piper Rubio (For All Mankind) all returning for the film.

It was revealed by Blumhouse Producer Jason Blum on Twitter/X that the Jim Henson creature shop would be continuing its incredible work and returning for the second film. Blum teases fans in his tweet, "Jim Henson’s Creature Shop is working their magic again! We aren’t sure what they’re working on, but we know it will be great!" The picture attached to the tweet shows a man working on an animatronic that closely resembles Mangle, an animatronic from the FNaF2 game, as well as what looks to be Toy Bonnie on the left edge of the image and an animatronic head in the bottom right of the image which looks to be Mangle's head.

This tease from Jason Blum unofficially confirms that the "Toy Animatronics" will appear in the sequel film. While it is possible for the animatronics just to make appearances in flashbacks, it is more realistic to assume that Blumhouse is going down the route of the FNaF2 game and introducing the characters and story into the sequel film. This means that fans will see all the Toy Animatronics and other characters from the important story at this point in the timeline. FNaF 2 is not likely going to be a prequel like its video game counterpart, but Blunhouse can convert the story to move the FNaF2 game story to take place after the events of the first film.

Introducing Henry Emily Is a Must

• The success of the FNaF games sparked a new age of "mascot horror."
• FNaF's success spawned countless fangames, forcing Game Jolt to create a new category for FNaF imitations.

Following the story of the FNaF2 game, not introducing Henry Emily into the sequel film would be a huge misstep. Henry Emily is the business partner, former best friend, and rival to William Afton in the video game lore. William Afton murdered Henry Emily's daughter, Charlotte Emily (aka Charlie), outside one of the Fazbear establishments. Charlie would go on to possess The Puppet, a security animatronic built by Henry himself to protect Charlie. The Puppet (aka The Marionette) is a major player in the overall FNaF game story as it continues to hunt William Afton and help Afton's victims rest peacefully.

In the FNaF movie, it is revealed that William Afton (Matthew Lillard) was the one who murdered the missing kids, including Mike Schmidt's (Josh Hutcherson) brother. As this mostly follows true to the games, it is portrayed that Afton is truly an evil man and suggests that these kids may not be the only victims. This is where Henry and Charlie can come into play in the sequel. During the film's end credits, a digital voice, similar to that in the games, spells out the words "Come Find Me."

On the contrary, Blumhouse and Director Emma Tammi may be taking a different route from the games. This is nothing new, as other key points in the game's story were changed for the film, such as the widely accepted and popular fan theory that Mike Schmidt is an alias for Michael Afton, William Afton's eldest son. When it was revealed that Mike would have a sister and deceased brother in the film, many fans assumed this would be true to the games, as this parallels Michael Afton's siblings, Elizabeth Afton and the Crying Child. However, it was revealed that Vanessa (Elizabeth Lail) was William Afton's daughter, and Mike is of no relation. Vanessa is a character in the FNaF game franchise that would not appear until Five Nights at Freddy's: Security Breach, the ninth title in the main series.

Meet the Schmidts: The Puppet and Henry Emily

• Henry Emily has not physically appeared in any FNaF video game.
• Charlotte Emily has only appeared in FNaF's minigames, detailing her story.

Blumhouse is seemingly going in a different direction regarding the sequel, as it seems The Puppet in the film franchise will be Garret, Mike's deceased brother. The film's storyline and the "Come Find Me" message at the end could be confusing for people who are not familiar with the games. This introduction of a new child soul who wants to find peace, may not be clear to those who are not fans of the games, and Blumhouse will most likely stay away from that. The decision to make Garret possess The Puppet seems logical and likely to appeal to new fans who are just getting into the franchise because of the films.

This presents an opportunity to reveal that Mike's father is Henry Emily. Comparing Mike's dad in the picnic flashbacks and the engineer in the background of the Freddy Fazbear welcome video, they do seem to look alike. This would also mean Blumhouse swapped the Afton's and Emily's families from the games, as Afton has two sons and a daughter, while Henry only has a daughter. In the film, it is reversed, and this may lead to the reveal of Mike's father being Henry. The absence of Mike's father may be Henry planning how to get revenge on Afton and rest the children's souls, similar to his path in the games. And with the Toy Animatronics being Henry's creations, this opportunity is wide open for Blumhouse to introduce Henry alongside the introduction of The Puppet. Five Nights at Freddy's 2 has a high standard to meet to impress its fans. This new direction is sure to do just that.