He encounters aВ laundromat owner named William Burke (Colman Domingo), whoВ first introduces Anthony to the concept of Candyman. A few scenes later,В the movieвЂ™sВ protagonist - aВ talented young painter named Anthony ( Yahya Abdul-Mateen II) - begins his own investigation into Cabrini urban legends, inspired by TroyвЂ™s story about Helen. And thatвЂ™s largely how theВ new film interprets the concept of the character.

In essence, by the start of the 2021 Candyman,В HelenвЂ™s legend has replaced the CandymanвЂ™s. In fact, Troy never even says the word вЂњCandyman.вЂќ Instead, heВ claims that Helen was researching urban legends in Cabrini-Green when she вЂњjust snapsвЂќ and вЂњgoes on a rampage.вЂќ Instead of saving the baby from the fire, she supposedly tried to use the baby as a вЂњsacrificial offering.вЂќ The crowd freed the kid right before Helen вЂњwalks right into the fireвЂќ and burns to death. In his tale,В Helen didnвЂ™t meet the Candyman.

A slightly different interpretation of HelenвЂ™s story is how 2021вЂ™s Candyman begins, told by Troy (Nathan Stewart-Jarrett). ThatвЂ™s the version of the story in 1992вЂ™s Candyman. (Based on paintings we see, Helen bears a resemblance toВ the woman who Candyman loved and impregnated.) Eventually, Helen manages to destroy Candyman in a bonfire and save the baby from immolation, at the expense of her own life. He tells Helen that he will spare the child if Helen willingly givesВ herselfВ over to him. Later, CandymanВ claims that HelenвЂ™s actions have made people lose faith in his legend, and thus heвЂ™s returned to kill more people to perpetuate his story.Д¬andyman - or perhaps an increasingly unhinged Helen suffering from some kind of disassociative breakdown, itвЂ™s left somewhat ambiguous - kidnaps aВ baby fromВ Cabrini-Green. She blacks out and then awakens in pools of blood with no memory of how she got there or what violence has occurred. Soon after, the man is arrested, but Helen begins seeingВ visions of the вЂњrealвЂќ Candyman (played by Tony Todd). While investigating the legend, Helen gets attacked byВ a man claiming to be Candyman. When heВ fell in love with and impregnated one of his white subjects, a mob brutally murdered him by cutting off his arm, smearing him with honeycomb, and letting bees sting him to death. She eventually learns the origin of this figure:В He is theВ son of a freed slave from the late 1800s who painted portraits for white families.

From one of the custodians who works at her school, she hears about the Candyman, a murderer who supposedly stalks the residents of ChicagoвЂ™s Cabrini-Green housing project. The first Candyman is about a grad student named Helen Lyle (Virginia Madsen) whoвЂ™s researching a thesis on urban legends. Those final scenes draw upon the original Candyman film directed by Bernard Rose (itself inspired by a Clive Barker story called вЂњThe ForbiddenвЂќ) so it helps to have seen or rewatched the original film before youВ dive into the new one.В If not, here are the basics you need to know.

Candyman killer victims