While original actor Robert Englund already gave the casting his blessing, Kevin Bacon might not be as perfect a replacement for the iconic Robert Englund’s Freddy couldn’t have saved Nightmare On Elm Street 2010 since the remake lacked any new twists on the franchise formula and misjudged the only minor changes that its story did make to the existing mythos.
Nonetheless, the fact that both audiences rejected Haley’s spin on Freddy Krueger proves just how tricky it is to replace a legendary horror villain. Haley was well-suited to the role and had been on a hot streak with critics before Nightmare On Elm Street’s release, and even the skilled thespian wasn’t able to make an impression that managed to escape the outsized shadow of Englund’s original iteration of Freddy Krueger. As such, Kevin Bacon should be wary about taking on the role in a new Nightmare On Elm Street reboot, despite Englund himself approving of the actor for the part.
It is tricky to tell if a classic slasher franchise reboot starring Kevin Bacon in the role of Freddy Krueger would be able to reinvent the series. After all, one Nightmare On Elm Street reboot already failed despite its stellar cast, and no one actor can single-handedly salvage a doomed project. On the other hand, Bacon has a history of playing campy villains and has been a horror star for decades, both qualities that make him more suited to the role than the more dramatically-oriented Haley. Not only that, but Bacon’s take on Freddy wouldn’t necessarily need to be a straightforward remake, which means the Nightmare On Elm Street franchise could follow in the steps of Halloween 2018 and Candyman and reinvent the series for a new generation.
Kevin Bacon Could Be The Next Freddy Krueger
Around the same time that Robert Englund explained why the Nightmare On Elm Street remake flopped with audiences, the actor said that there were rumors of Bacon taking on the role and gave the casting his blessing. In August 2022, Bacon responded in a ScreenRant interview with an evasive “never say never,” neither confirming nor denying whether the rumors were true or whether he would take on the horror villain role if he was offered the part. While noncommittal, Bacon’s response shows that the actor would not rule out the idea of playing Freddy Krueger in a new Nightmare On Elm Street movie, and this could be great news for the dormant franchise.
The Case For Kevin Bacon’s Freddy Krueger
As noted by Englund, Bacon loves horror. Freddy Krueger’s scariest supernatural powers with the character’s dark sense of humor.
The Case Against Kevin Bacon’s Freddy Krueger
Bacon seems perfectly suited to the part of Freddy Krueger and, at a glance, it looks like the actor is a perfect fit for a Nightmare On Elm Street reboot. However, viewers familiar with the franchise will recall that the series has been through this process before. When Jackie Earle Haley’s performances as a complex pedophile in Little Children and an unhinged, murderous vigilante in Watchmen led producers to think he was a perfect Freddy Krueger replacement, the part seemed like it was tailor-made for the actor’s range. Freddy Krueger is a tough role that is difficult to get right (especially when Englund’s own original Krueger became a cringe-worthy self-parody in the later Nightmare On Elm Street movies) and Kevin Bacon might not be up to the daunting task any more than the equally talented Haley was.
Can Anyone Replace Robert Englund’s Freddy Krueger?
The difficult thing about replacing a character like Freddy, Tony Todd’s Candyman, or Brad Dourif’s Chucky is that the character is closely associated with the original actor. Yahya Abdul-Mateen II and Mark Hamill’s performances in 2021’s Candyman and 2019’s Child’s Play couldn’t leverage their considerable star power and screen presence against the outsized influence of their predecessors, a problem that Nightmare On Elm Street’s Freddy replacement would also face. No matter who plays the new Freddy, the biggest issue that any Nightmare On Elm Street reboot faces is the problem of replacing the original actor in the first place.
Kevin Bacon’s Freddy Is Nightmare On Elm Street’s Best Reboot
If the Nightmare On Elm Street series must replace Englund, then Bacon has the fame, acting chops, and established screen persona to pull off the part. However, Englund is still alive and working, meaning the Nightmare On Elm Street franchise might be better off pulling the same ploy as Candyman and giving the original Freddy a send-off instead of replacing him. If Bacon played a new character who eventually replaced Freddy by the movie’s end, this would allow the reboot to humanize the new villain while also letting Nightmare On Elm Street borrow Candyman 2021’s best trick. That slasher reboot managed to both bring back the original monster and replace Tony Todd’s iconic titular villain in one fell swoop, proving that the new reboot wasn’t ignoring the original movies while still allowing for new projects in the franchise. A Nightmare On Elm Street reboot that features both Kevin Bacon and Robert Englund would potentially be able to find the same delicate balance, but this would require a clever story that justified replacing the original Freddy Krueger.
