It’s been a fair while since we’ve seen A Nightmare on Elm Street’s Freddy Krueger terrorize audiences on the big screen, and fans are discussing who should take up the mantle for a future project.
Krueger has been voted one of cinema’s greatest villains by the American Film Institute, but has been in the wilderness for 12 years. Played by Robert Englund since the character’s debut in 1984, there’s discussion now on Reddit over who could replace Englund in future instalments.
An early shout went towards one of the internet’s favourite character actors, Willem Dafoe. Well versed in playing joyful maniacs, Dafoe would undoubtedly be a solid choice.
Game of Thrones’ Night King also gets a mention, with the leader of the ice walkers played by Richard Brake on one user’s wish list.
It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia’s stranglehold on pop culture led “Rickety Cricket” to be suggested, and it’s somehow not a terrible idea.
A clever idea was presented by another user, believing that Freddy should be played by multiple actors, with it changing in each character’s nightmares.
Cast in the Amazon adaptation of the Fallout video games as a ghoul is Walton Goggins, and it’s one to get the smoothskins talking.
Caleb Landry Jones, who recently played Australia’s most infamous mass murderer in Nitram gets the nod from another Redditor. As the user points out, having three names doesn’t help Jones’ case.
But perhaps this is all in vain, with plenty of support for Englund to keep his role as the horror film icon.
There hasn’t been any action on the Nightmare on Elm Street property since Wes Craven died in Aug. 2015. A few talks of an HBO Max series, but nothing solid on the future of Krueger, or if Englund will be part of its future.
