Although Five Nights At Freddy’s is set to become a huge franchise, the original movie left Five Nights At Freddy’s 2 with a massive villain problem to overcome. Five Nights At Freddy’s took a long time to make it to the big screen, with illustrious directors like Chris Columbus and Gil Kenan dropping out of the project during its tortured pre-production process. Eventually, The Wind director Emma Tammi made the indie video game hit into a movie and, by Five Nights at Freddy’s ending, it was clear that Hollywood had a major new horror franchise on its hands.

Despite the struggles in getting it off the ground, Five Nights At Freddy’s was a huge success. Earning over $297 million upon release, the video game movie became one of the biggest horror movies of the 21st century. Inevitably, Five Nights At Freddy’s 2 was announced soon after the first movie’s out-sized success. However, one limitation of the original movie’s story is likely to prove a problem for this much-anticipated follow-up. By sticking to the story of the source games, the ending of Five Nights At Freddy’s ironically made its most famous characters a lot less scary than they seemed when the movie began.

Five Night At Freddy’s 2 Must Make Its Villains Scary (Again)

Five Nights At Freddy’s Successfully Humanized The Animatronics

While they are still clearly dangerous, the villains don’t seem all that sinister after the ending of Five Nights At Freddy’s. The movie reveals that the killer animatronics are possessed by the spirits of children murdered by the serial killer William Afton, and the kids get back at Afton in the end by trapping Matthew Lillard’s villain in one of his own animatronic suits. For Five Night At Freddy’s 2’s box office to repeat the original movie’s success, it will need to promise some significant scares. The problem is that this ending made the animatronics tragic antiheroes.

After all, the predicament of the children allows for a more empathetic impression of their situation. They were small children who were brutally killed, and, when Abby gains their trust, they prove to be surprisingly friendly to her, Mike, and Elizabeth. Afton’s influence led them to murder, but Afton also killed them in the first place, so it is fair to say he is the only real monster in the original movie. Because of this, Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 will have to find a new way to ensure its villains inspire fear.

How Five Nights At Freddy’s 2 Can Have Better Villains

Golden Freddy and Springtrap Can Solve This Issue In The Sequel

Fortunately, the franchise has an answer to this issue. Afton’s animatronic form, Springtrap, is the most terrifying villain in the video game series. Five Nights at Freddy’s directly teased Springtrap in the credits, meaning that Five Night At Freddy’s 2 is on track to introduce a truly evil animatronic, something the original movie promised but never provided. Golden Freddy, who also appeared briefly in Five Night At Freddy’s, is a more ambiguously threatening figure who could also make the sequel more sinister. Between these characters, Five Night At Freddy’s 2 has an opportunity to outdo Five Night At Freddy’s in terms of villains.