MOVIE NEWS – The Black Phone 2 cast has been revealed, with all the original stars returning for the horror sequel, including Ethan Hawke as the ‘Grabber’…

The 2025 release date is already here, and the cast of The Black Phone 2 has been announced. The 2021 horror film – which we also wrote about – was an adaptation of Joe Hill’s novel of the same name. It was about the latest victim of a serial kidnapper, the “Grabber”, who finds a way to communicate with the ghosts of the monster’s previous victims to find out how he can escape. The film was a critical and commercial success upon its release. It grossed over $161 million against a production budget of $18 million, and talks for a sequel quickly began.

Barely a month after the film hit Universal and Blumhouse’s calendars, Deadline reported that The Black Phone 2 has been cast.

The horror sequel sees the return of the five main characters, Mason Thames, Madeleine McGraw, Jeremy Davies and Miguel Mora, along with Ethan Hawke as “Grabber” (Even though the character died in the first film. Oops, spoiler alert…) The shooting start date has not yet been announced at the time of writing. But the film is scheduled to hit US theatres on June 27, 2025.

How can The Black Phone 2 bring back Hawke’s villain?

It seemed unlikely that the four-time Oscar nominee would return for the sequel. Still, it looks like Hawke will be back. The 2021 film memorably ended with Thames Finney seemingly killing the Grabber by taking the eponymous device’s chord and snapping the killer’s neck. He fled the house just in time to be discovered by his sister Gwen and the police.

Before the sequel was announced, it was unclear if Hawke would return, except that Hill and Derrickson pitched a great idea to continue the story and the actor’s interest in reprising the role with the Sinister director at the helm.

The seemingly easiest way for the sequel to bring back Hawke’s Grabber would be through supernatural means. The first film already confirmed that this is an existing element in the story’s universe. Both Finney and Gwen have some connection to the afterlife. The former can communicate directly with the spirits of the Grabber’s victims. And the latter has visions that made her save her brother. It is possible that the Grabber would haunt them from beyond the grave. Not only would this allow for an exciting expansion of the villain’s monstrous abilities. But it would also create a unique dynamic between Gwen and her father. The latter is still trying to come to terms with his daughter’s psychic abilities, which was already a point of contention between them in the first film.

Another possible way for Hawke’s Grabber to return in Black Phone 2 would be if it turns out that he somehow survived the fight with Finney at the end of the first film.

While this may seem like an exaggeration, it would show that he is even more potent than Finney and Gwen initially thought. This would make him an even more horrible threat in the sequel. However, since Hill has assured that the sequel will not “cheapen” the original, those who enjoyed the original can rest assured that the author, as well as Derrickson and Cargill, have a sensible plan to continue the story.

Source: Deadline