Black Phone 2 sees Ethan Hawke's The Grabber turn into a new-age Freddy Krueger, and it makes for an insanely unique sequel that evolves the franchises in completely unexpected way. The movie brings back Mason Thames' Finney and Madeleine McGraw's Gwen, who are joined by Miguel Mora's Ernesto, as they journey to solve a deadly mystery at the heart of a winter camp with deep ties to both themselves and The Grabber.
The Direct was at New York Comic-Com (NYCC) 2025, where the cast of Black Phone 2 spoke to us about the big changes the story has in store for their characters, and the unexpected direction that the sequel took in the first place.
Universal's Black Phone 2 is now playing in theaters.
Black Phone 2 Star Mason Thames on Getting Out of That Basement
"We're In a Blizzard In a Just Random Winter Camp."
- The Direct: "It must have been weird: you weren't stuck in a basement for the entire movie. That must have changed the whole experience. So how weird was that? But then also, you didn't get that many scenes with The Grabber."
Mason Thames: I mean, it's crazy... I was out in the open... The fact that I remember reading the script and seeing just the setting, it was like, Oh yeah, we're in a blizzard in a just random winter camp. And I'm like, Okay, I wonder how they're gonna do this. And they just fully went for it. And then we just went to this random camp out in Toronto, and it was crazy. It was really, I mean, there's not one piece of fake snow in this movie. It's all real. We felt that cold, and it helped for the characters. So it was fun to do that.
- The Direct: "The direction of The Grabber in this film was so unexpected, turning him into Freddy Krueger. I'm curious. Before the second one was announced and all this stuff, what was your idea for a sequel, like? What did you imagine might happen? And then, were you surprised by the direction?"
Thames: I had no idea how they take it from the first movie, because the first movie is such a—it ends and you leave the theater feeling fulfilled, and I didn't know how they're going to take it from there, but what I love so much about it is that the first one was a story about a kid becoming a teenager and going through this trauma in this traumatic event, and the second one is a different story about a teenager becoming a man and dealing with that trauma and the PTSD and I thought that aspect was really fun. And just The Grabber himself coming back, I didn't know how [they got to that]. But the route they took, It was awesome.
Madeleine McGraw on Getting to Go Up Against The Grabber Himself
"I Definitely Felt a Lot of Pressure Going Into It."
- The Direct: "I feel like in this film, your character, it's a big upgrade. You get a huge focus, but also you get to go up against Ethan Hawke's The Grabber, which is terrifying. Can you talk about getting placed in that part of this narrative and getting to go up against the titular villain?"
Madeleine McGraw: Yeah, I definitely felt a lot of pressure going into it. That scared the life out of me. Yeah, I definitely felt a lot of pressure going into it. I was very nervous, and talked to Scott [Derrickson], our director, a lot about those certain scenes. And you know, it was really nice, because on set, we had a lot of rehearsals, and so getting to do specifically that kitchen scene with Ethan [Hawke], all the stunt choreography was very precise.
And so I feel like we definitely needed those rehearsals. And those are all very, very important. But yeah, it was just awesome getting to work so closely alongside Ethan this time around. Because I feel like I learned so much from him as an actor and just as a person in general. He treats everyone with kindness on set. So I feel like that's very inspiring.
- The Direct: "Who's winning in a fight in the dream world, The Grabber or Freddy Krueger?"
McGraw: Honestly, The Grabber. The Grabber is way scarier in my opinion. In my opinion, The Grabber is 10 times scarier. So I'm gonna go with The Grabber, I'm not being biased at all. I swear.
Miguel Mora Talks About Black Phone 2's Unexpected Direction
"A Lot of People Were Wondering, How Are We Gonna Even Make a Sequel?"
- The Direct: "That twist of turning The Grabber into Freddy Krueger is somewhat unexpected. I'm curious, in your own head, when you start just on your own thinking about, wow, what is this sequel to this first movie even look like, what did you think it might be?"
Miguel Mora: I was trying to put it together, man. I mean, 'Black Phone ended off in a way where, how does a sequel even happen? You know, it just kind of ended there. And a lot of people were wondering, how are we gonna even make a sequel? How are they gonna go about doing this? And then when I got announced that I'm coming back, whoa. Now this is even more confusing. How is Miguel coming back? But no, exactly. There were a lot of questions.
And when I mean, I got to tell you, man, when I read the script, all of those questions went out the window. I was just so amazed by the beautiful story that they wrote, and they just truly did such an amazing job.
And now, answering your question about the Freddy Krueger aspect.Scott [Derrickson] spoke about this at Fantastic Fest. I don't know if you had the opportunity to hear him when he said it, but this story is personal to him. You know, he grew up with 'Nightmare on Elm Street.' He grew up with 'Curtains' and these, you know, iconic horror franchises that we know now today, and it's cool to see that this 'Black Phone' universe has a little bit of that personal connection to the director, and we can see that.
And The Grabber has the similarities to 'Nightmare on Elm Street' and Freddy Krueger, but he's very different. I think The Grabber's motives here are a lot darker, a lot more sinister than Freddy's. And this story overall just has so much depth.
- The Direct: "Who's winning in a fight, The Grabber or Freddy Krueger—assuming they're both in the dream world?"
Mora: This is easy. I mean, I'm going with The Grabber. The Grabber is a lot. I'm gonna, you know, I can see all the Freddy [Kruger] fans, Die Hard Freddy fans. But yeah, no. I mean, I'm Team 'Black Phone,' baby. So I gotta go with The Grabber.
The entire video interviews with the cast of Black Phone 2 at NYCC can be viewed below:
