Summary

• Doug Bradley is open to reprising Pinhead in the Hellraiser franchise, pitching a darker, older version with less humor.
• The 2022 Hellraiser reboot's future is uncertain, but the potential for Bradley's return as Pinhead with a fresh narrative bridge is possible.
• The precedent was set by 2021's Candyman sequel, which showed how Bradley's Pinhead could coexist with new characters in the franchise.

As the franchise's future remains unclear, Doug Bradley pitches his perfect Pinhead return for the malevolent Cenobite leader, Pinheader, Bradley handed the reins off of the character to Jamie Clayton for the 2022 franchise reboot, with director David Bruckner taking a back-to-basics approach to telling The Hellbound Heart. Clayton and Bruckner's version was largely well-received, becoming the second-best-reviewed installment behind Barker's 1987 original.

During a recent interview with Bloody Disgusting, Bradley was asked about his thoughts on a potential Hellraiser franchise return as Pinhead after being absent from the 2022 reboot. The star was not only open to the idea of reprising his iconic character, but also revealed his pitch for what he'd like to see, sharing the idea of "an older, darker Pinhead", expressing a desire to move away from the "flippant one-liners and the witty comebacks" featured in later sequels. Check out what Bradley shared below:

I certainly never say never. I've never said I was done with it. I've never said I'm retired from it ... I'm sensible about these things, too. I was in my mid-30s when I first played the character, and I was just turning 50 when I played him the last time. I ain't in that age range anymore. I'm now in my 70th year, and to some extent I think special effects makeup is a younger man's game. If we did that, we could maybe present an older Pinhead to be aware of the fact that I am the age I am, that time and gravity does what time and gravity does.

An older, darker Pinhead would intrigue me, one not so much in love with the flippant one-liners and the witty comebacks and so forth. That would be the perfect bookend to my life in latex, if I can put it that way ... I've never turned my back completely on the character, but realistically, I think that's probably that, and that's fine. I'm proud of what we did with the movies, and I'm proud of my work in it. I'm cool with being where I am now.

Is There A Future For Bradley In The Hellraiser Franchise?

Despite scoring strong reviews and solid viewership numbers for Hulu, 20th Century Studios has yet to announce any future plans for the Hellraiser franchise. This is generally understandable, considering the 2022 reboot ended on a generally conclusive note, with Odessa A'zion's protagonist Riley accepting her part in her brother's death via the Cenobite device, the Lament Configuration, and Goran Višnjić's antagonist Roland Voight being taken to the Cenobite world to be transformed into one of them.

In looking at previous installments, however, there are a number of ways for the Hellraiser franchise to continue beyond the 2022 movie. The original 1988 sequel, Hellbound, saw the return of one of the first movie's antagonists from the Cenobites' realm to track down final girl, Kirsty Cotton. A sequel to the 2022 Hellraiser could take a similar path with Roland coming back to use his new Cenobite abilities to haunt Riley. A follow-up could also take a standalone approach akin to previous sequels, which used everything from future technology to Silent Hill-like nightmare universes to bring Bradley back.

One recent horror hit shows how Bradley could return as Pinhead without undermining 2022's Hellraiser.

Bradley's potential future in the Hellraiser franchise may seem in doubt considering the 2022 reboot largely moved on from his Pinhead incarnation, but there is precedent for how this could work. Candyman legacy sequel effectively found a way to introduce a new version of its titular entity while bringing back Tony Todd as a prior incarnation. A future Hellraiser movie could take a similar approach, expanding its lore to reveal Bradley's Pinhead to be either the original or previous Cenobite leader before Clayton's Priest came along, thus bridging the narrative gap between the two.

Source: Bloody Disgusting