There was a time when a person might get slapped for saying such a thing as this, but Elm Street might be kind of a dead-end at this time since with Robert Englund hanging up the beat-up fedora and iconic sweatshirt, there aren’t a lot of faces that fans are willing to see take up the dreaded countenance of one of their favorite villains of all time. Freddy Krueger was brought back in an attempt by Jackie Earle Haley years ago, but even with Robert Englund praising the performance it wasn’t good enough for a lot of fans since in their minds, Englund is the only guy that deserves to play the role. This is kind of a funny attitude to have since in the era of reboots and remakes there have been plenty of iconic characters that have been redone, gender-swapped, race-swapped, and people haven’t batted an eye. But take one horror icon and try to redo it, and people lose their ever-loving minds because they can’t see anyone else in this role. Another amusing fact is that for a while, people were watching Halloween and Friday the 13th without caring who was behind the mask. It might be that the fact that Jason and Michael are covered up provides an excuse, but it does feel that Nightmare on Elm Stree could possibly evolve and become something far more than what it was while retaining the dark sense of humor that eventually came about thanks to Freddy’s playfully insane nature. Robert Englund would no longer be taking on the role, but it would be interesting to see if anyone could be found that would want to give it a try and make it work. Jackie Earle Haley might still be a viable prospect, but the story would really need to change and it might even have to stretch out a bit, away from Elm Street and into a world where nightmares are still very real.
If the franchise needs to end then so be it, but it would be better off ending after another movie or two that made it clear that Freddy would never really be dead, but might be less of a terror than the boogeyman, meaning he’s still there but people aren’t afraid of him any longer. Or another movie could end on a cliffhanger and make it known that there will always be something to fear. However it might happen it’s easy to think that there’s still enough life left in the story to make something out of it and perhaps even create another two or three movies that could start up the old idea and possibly put it to bed not too long after. Freddy’s story is one that can encompass a much wider range than what he’s taken on in the past since his primary focus was gaining revenge for his death by killing the children of the people that burned him alive. Granted, he was a child molester and a killer, but as it’s been seen quite often, taking the law into your own hands, especially in the movies, tends to create problems that a person really wasn’t thinking about beforehand. True, there was no way to know that Freddy would become some type of dream demon that would take his frustrations and anger out on the kids of those that killed him, but there’s so much more that can be done with this, especially since the character feeds off of fear and human souls.
Why not take Freddy further? Why not take the chance and bring the villain back in a manner that’s closer to the original and therefore a little easier for people to like? While it’s probably not going to happen anytime soon it would be great to see it all the same since Freddy is one of the most popular and iconic movie monsters of all time and his ability to strike at people in dreams is still one of the most potent weapons that any villain can have since one has to think that eventually every person has to sleep, and if they’re mentally exhausted when they reach the dream world then they’re even easier to play with. It’s an idea at least, but one that might not be taken seriously since a lot of fans are going to be adamant that the character of Freddy can’t be played by anyone but Robert Englund. While it’s easy to agree that he’ll always be the best, it’s a bit foolish to think that a great idea like this is dead simply because the one person that made it so great isn’t going to be taking on the role any longer. Fans are definitely confusing and frustrating at times since many of them want the franchise to continue, but they’re not willing to bend or compromise to make it happen.
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