Black Phone 2 Just Got Announced and I’m Already Worried About The Grabber’s Backstory

So, just saw the news blast across my feed. Universal and Blumhouse officially greenlit The Black Phone 2, and it’s slated for a Summer 2025 release. My immediate reaction was a mi of “hell yes” and “.

wait, really” Don’t get me wrong, I loved the first one. I saw it in a packed theater, and the tension was so thick you could chew it. But the ending felt so. final, you know Finney escapes, the Grabber dies, it’s a done deal.

So where do they possibly go from here The official word is that it’s a continuation of the story, not just a rehash. Scott Derrickson is back directing, and Ethan Hawke is confirmed to return. But how I mean, we all saw him get choked out with that phone cord, right His body was just left there in that basement.

Are we talking a prequel A ghost story Or maybe the most obvious answer: his brother, the one we barely saw, takes up the mask Let’s talk about that for a second. The first movie gave us just crumbs about the Grabber. We know his name is Albert Shaw, he has a brother named Ma who seems somewhat conflicted, he’s a magician, and he’s got some serious, unresolved childhood trauma of his own.

That scene where Ma is arguing with him, yelling about “what happened to you” – that was a huge, flashing neon sign for a sequel. It’s the biggest unanswered question of the entire film. What *did* happen to him This is the part that I think could be amazing or could totally fall flat.

If they go the prequel route and show his descent into becoming the Grabber, they have to be incredibly careful. Making him too sympathetic could feel gross and miss the point. But just showing him as a pure monster from the start would be boring.

It’s a tightrope walk. I remember watching *Hannibal* shows and movies, and sometimes the more they eplained Hannibal Lecter, the less scary he became. The mystery *was* the horror. The Grabber’s weird, almost playful yet utterly terrifying demeanor in the first film was so effective because we didn’t know what made him tick.

Do we really want to know On the other hand, maybe it’s not just about him. The black phone itself is a massive plot device. The movie established that the phone allows the dead to speak to the living in that house.

So, even if the Grabber is dead, his spirit could still be trapped there, maybe even more powerful. Or, the phone’s “power” could etend to other locations. What if Finney, having survived, starts getting calls again, but this time from other victims of other killers He’s now a conduit.

That could be a way to continue the story without just re-doing the basement scenario. I have to be honest, the thing that makes me most nervous is the “law of diminishing returns” with horror sequels. Think about it.

*The Conjuring* was fantastic and terrifying. Then we got sequel after sequel, and spin-offs, and the whole universe got a bit. watered down. The same thing happened with *Sinister*. The first one scarred me for life, the second one was just okay.

I’m terrified that *Black Phone 2* might fall into that trap. The first film worked because of its simple, claustrophobic premise. A kid in a basement, a creepy killer, and a supernatural phone. How do you epand that without losing what made it special And what about the kids Are we following a new group of kidnapped boys Is Gwen, Finney’s sister, going to have a bigger role Her psychic dreams were a huge part of the first movie’s plot.

Maybe she becomes a central figure, using her gifts to help solve a new series of disappearances, somehow linked back to the Grabber’s legacy or the black phone. I’m just throwing ideas at the wall here. The point is, I’m invested.

I care about this franchise because the first one felt fresh and genuinely scary. I’m not just a passive observer; I’m genuinely curious and, frankly, a bit anious. I want it to be good. I want to be back in that theater in 2025 feeling that same dread and ecitement.

But I keep coming back to the core question: Do we *need* a Black Phone 2 Wasn’t one perfect, self-contained story enough Or is there a genuinely new, compelling chapter to be told that can stand on its own What do you guys think Are you ecited, or are you worried it’s just a cash grab What direction would you want to see the story take that wouldn’t ruin the legacy of the first film