In Five Nights at Freddy’s, Matthew Lillard played a pivotal role as William Afton. Lillard is coming back for the sequel next year, and seems pretty excited about getting the chance to return. In a new interview with GamesRadar+, Lillard talked about how he’s unfortunately been left out of sequels to other movies that developed large fan communities. That’s not the case with Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, and that has given him a lot more enthusiasm for the sequel. He also seemed to indicate that Afton will have a larger role than he did in the first film.
“I had no idea sort of what I was getting into when we started. I didn’t play Five Nights, but my kids did. And so when the offer came through, it was my middle kid, Ace, who was like, you have to take this job. William Afton is this huge role,” Lillard told GamesRadar+. “And same with the director [Emma Tammi]. The director’s like, look, there’s not a lot to do in the first movie, but he’s the center of the universe in terms of evil. And having been left out of many a sequel, I was very excited about the idea of being able to lean into a community. You know, at some point very early on, the creator of the game [Scott Cawthon]. He said in a year or so, people aren’t gonna be able to imagine William Afton without thinking about you.”
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While Lillard does not specify which sequels he’s been left out of, the obvious answer is Scream. Like Five Nights at Freddy’s, the original Scream featured Lillard as one of the film’s two antagonists. Lillard’s character Stu Macher died at the end of the movie following a final encounter with series protagonist Sidney Prescott. Since then, five sequels have been released, with a number of major characters returning, including Lillard’s co-villain Billy Loomis (played by Skeet Ulrich). Lillard has often expressed a similar interest in returning to the Scream series, but there has been no word on whether that will ever happen.
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While Lillard might not get a chance to return to Scream, he clearly has a new horror franchise to appear in. At this time, details around the Five Nights at Freddy’s sequel are pretty slim, but we know the movie is planned to release on December 5, 2025. We can probably expect some details about the storyline and Afton’s role in the movie as we get into the new year. The first Five Nights at Freddy’s was hugely successful, but it remains to be seen whether the sequel will prove as big of a hit at the box office and on streaming. Hopefully the series will prove long lasting for both fans of the games, and Lillard, who previously said he wants to make a “bunch” of sequels.
Are you excited to see the next Five Nights at Freddy’s movie? Do you want to see Matthew Lillard return to the Scream series? Share your thoughts with me directly on Twitter at @Marcdachamp, on Bluesky at @Marcdachamp, or on Instagram at @Dachampgaming!
