The trend of reboots continues in the horror genre, and the upcoming Final Destination 6 can finally solve the franchise’s decades-long Grim Reaper mystery. The 1990s and early 2000s saw a revival of horror movies, and in 2000, the supernatural horror movie Final Destination was released. Directed by James Wong, Final Destination introduced the audience to Alex Browning (Devon Sawa), who on his way to his senior trip to Paris with his friends and classmates, has a vision of the plane exploding. Alex, a teacher, and his friends are kicked out of the plane, which ends up exploding moments later.
Alex and his friends then learn that, as they survived by leaving the plane, Death will now take their lives at any moment, and together they try to find a way to avoid it. Although it wasn’t well-received by critics, Final Destination was a box-office hit and spawned a franchise with four sequels. Although each movie follows a new group of teenagers trying to cheat death, one character who was a constant throughout the saga was William Bludworth (Tony Scott). Bludworth’s presence in the Final Destination movie series has raised many questions about his real role, and these can finally be answered in the upcoming reboot, Final Destination 6: Bloodlines.
Final Destination 6 Will Reportedly Feature Tony Todd’s William Bludworth
The Final Destination franchise seemed to have come to an end in 2011 with Final Destination 5. Although the title of the fifth movie implies it’s a sequel, Final Destination 5 is actually a prequel, and at the end, it takes the audience back to the beginning of Final Destination. Now, the franchise is being revived with a sixth movie, which has been in development since 2019. Titled Final Destination 6: Bloodlines, the movie will be directed by Zach Lipovsky and Adam B. Stein, and is expected to start filming once the 2023 SAG-AFTRA strike comes to an end.
Although Final Destination 6 has been said to be set in the same canon as the previous movies, it won’t exactly be a sequel. Production designer Rachel O’Toole told The Direct that Final Destination 6 is “a really fresh take” and that they consider it a reboot, but couldn’t reveal more details. Although there haven’t been any official casting announcements for the new Final Destination 6, Tony Todd has reportedly signed on to reprise his role as William Bludworth (via Bloody Disgusting), making him the only link so far between this reboot and the rest of the movies. It’s possible that Final Destination 6 will end up being a “requel”, which would explain Bludworth’s return.
Who Is William Bludworth After All? Final Destination Has Yet To Answer
William Bludworth is the owner of Bludworth Funeral Homes and made his first appearance in Final Destination. When Alex and Clear (Ali Larter) sneak into the funeral home to examine their friend’s body, they come across Bludworth, who knows a bit too much about death. It’s Bludworth who explains to them that by cheating Death after getting off the plane, Death had a new plan for them. Bludworth also told them the rule of Death, which says that those who cheat it will be revisited by it to claim back their lives as they should have been lost, and also told them about Death’s List, with the order of deaths of the survivors.
Bludworth’s appearance was brief, but Todd’s performance and what the character revealed left a big impact on the characters and the audience. Bludworth returned in Final Destination 2, where he was visited by Clear, Kim, and Thom as he was preparing the corpse of Evan. This time, Bludworth told them that new life can defeat Death, which the rest interpreted as the birth of a child. However, what Bludworth actually meant was that, if one of the survivors died and was resuscitated, they would defeat death.
Bludworth skipped Final Destination 3 and The Final Destination but returned in Final Destination 5. In it, Bludworth was a coroner, and as such, he encountered the new survivors at various times. Bludworth told them that they could live if they took a life, as they would receive the lifespan of the person they killed, which obviously led to more chaos, especially as they didn’t know how long the person they killed had in their remaining lifespan.
Due to his knowledge of death and sinister appearances, Bludworth has been theorized to either be Death itself or its assistant, more so as his advice ended up leading to more deaths. However, none of the Final Destination movies have confirmed or denied this, but the upcoming reboot can finally do it.
What William Bludworth’s Role In Final Destination 6 Could Be
Although plot details about Final Destination 6 are still a mystery, it’s believed to focus on first responders, so Bludworth will most likely return as a mortician. It could also be possible that Bludworth will now be more of a supernatural presence rather than a real person working at the morgue, through which Final Destination 6 can finally confirm that he has always been the Grim Reaper or its assistant. So far, William Bludworth is the only link that Final Destination 6 has to the rest of the movies, making it the perfect opportunity to either confirm or deny that William Bludworth is this universe’s Grim Reaper.
Sources: The Direct, Bloody Disgusting.
