The Black Phone 2: Joe Hill suspected The Grabber would return as soon as he saw the mask

Back in October, Universal Pictures and Blumhouse Productions announced that The Black Phone 2 will be receiving a theatrical release on June 27, 2025, marking the “launch of a sinister new franchise.” Soon after, it was revealed that the sequel will see the return of Mason Thames (How to Train Your Dragon) as Finney Shaw, Madeleine McGraw (Secrets of Sulphur Springs) as Finney’s sister Gwen, Jeremy Davies (Justified) as their dad Terrence, and Miguel Mora, whose only previous credit is The Black Phone, as Robin, a friend of Finney’s who was killed in the first movie. Plus, yes, Ethan Hawke (Moon Knight) will be reprising the role of the child-killer known as The Grabber. The Black Phone director Scott Derrickson had said he would only return for a sequel if Hawke did as well… and after Hawke was confirmed to be returning, we learned that Derrickson will indeed be directing The Black Phone 2. The fact that The Grabber will be back in the sequel is surprising to some viewers – but it’s not a surprise to author Joe Hill, who wrote the short story The Black Phone was based on.

Hill wrapped up his version of the story in just a handful of pages, but he told ComicBook.com that he suspected The Grabber would be around for more than one movie when he saw the mask the character would be wearing. Hill said, “As soon as I saw the mask, which was designed by Tom Savini and Jason Baker, as soon as I saw the mask I thought, ‘If this film is a hit, there’ll be a sequel,’ because the mask is so iconic. It is like Freddy Krueger’s glove, it is like Michael Myers’ mask, it is this thing where it’s the imagery, iconic imagery, that haunts people’s sleep. And, look, in horror, guys like Jason Voorhees and Freddy Krueger, and Frankenstein, and Dracula, none of these guys stay buried. They all claw their way out of the grave for a sequel and then a threequel.“

The Black Phone (check out our review HERE) centered on Finney Shaw, a shy but clever 13-year-old boy, who is abducted by a sadistic killer and trapped in a soundproof basement where screaming is of little use. When a disconnected phone on the wall begins to ring, Finney discovers that he can hear the voices of the killer’s previous victims. And they are dead set on making sure that what happened to them doesn’t happen to Finney. If you’d like to read the short story that The Black Phone is based on, it can be found in Hill’s collection 20th Century Ghosts, which you can buy HERE.

Derrickson wrote the screenplay for the film with C. Robert Cargill, and Derrickson and Cargill are writing the screenplay for The Black Phone 2 as well. They’re also producing the sequel with Blumhouse’s Jason Blum and Ryan Turek. Details on the plot they’ve come up with for the sequel haven’t been revealed, but Hill assured ComicBook.com that they’ve been working on an idea that would still be scary, still be intense, and feel organic.

When you saw The Grabber in The Black Phone, did you suspect he would be back for a Black Phone 2 like Joe Hill did? Let us know by leaving a comment below.