After almost a decade of worldwide popularity, Five Nights at Freddy's is finally on its way to the big screen. It's a tough series to adapt. Newcomers see it as a horror franchise built around Chuck E. Cheese animatronics jumping out at the screen and YouTube Let's Players screaming at it. Fans know the stunningly extensive lore behind each game. Who will bring William Afton to the cinema for the first time?
Five Nights at Freddy's will be a production of the venerable Blumhouse Productions. The company is celebrated for its everything-against-the-wall approach to cinema. They have a few big franchises, but they drop a dozen lesser-known entries onto Hulu for every Purge or Get Out. Their involvement is simultaneously promising and concerning.
Who is William Afton in FNAF?
William Afton is the co-founder of Fazbear Entertainment, a notorious serial killer, and the broad antagonist of the original Five Nights at Freddy's. Like every other detail in the franchise, the lore is complicated and often vague. Fans find themselves patching together incomplete ideas more often than not. Afton is a British businessman with long-established ties to the themed restaurant industry. He founded Afton Robotics, LLC, providing animatronics for their flagship venture, Circus Baby's Pizza World. Circus Baby and its creations caused a stir in the local area. Before the grand opening, William allowed a few kids to explore the premises. His daughter, Elizabeth, ignored his warning and wandered close to the titular Circus Baby. The animatronic killed his eldest daughter.
William Afton later partnered with a man named Henry Emily to found new restaurants. Their first creation was called Fredbear's Family Diner. Fredbear's went reasonably well until William murdered Henry's daughter just outside the establishment. Shortly after, William's son Michael shoved his younger brother into the whirring animatronic mouth of Fredbear, killing the infant. Fredbear's closed its doors like Circus Baby's before it. Just before Fredbear's shutdown, Henry and William founded a spin-off called Freddy Fazbear's Pizza. Fazbear's lived for a decade, but the establishment spent most of its years in disrepair. In the summer of 1985, two years after founding Fazbear's, William murdered five children. He wore a Spring Bonny costume, luring his victims with the visage of one of his popular animatronics. William stuffed the five corpses into his lovable creations at Fazbear's. The children's spirits haunted the machines, leading them to attack adults and leak viscera. William would abandon Fazbear's to avoid prosecution, escaping the murder charges by effectively hiding the bodies.
William is said to hunt and kill children to collect Remnant, a mysterious energy source he seems to believe could make him immortal. He murdered children at random throughout the 80s and 90s. His body count is unknown. William returned to Fazbear's, presumably to harvest Remnant from the five kids he'd killed. He inadvertently freed their spirits from the machines, allowing the ghosts to attack him. Thinking quickly, William squeezed himself into the Spring Bonny suit he'd used to kill them, hoping they'd be fooled and let him escape. The ruse worked, but rain and time had weakened the costume. The Bonny suit's gears and springs suddenly shifted into place, tearing most of William's body and pinning him in place. He slowly bled to death, and his body was trapped in the suit, much like his victims. William would reanimate his prison as Springtrap, then again as Scraptrap. He was defeated when Henry Emily burned the latest iteration of Fazbear's to the ground in vengeance for his lost daughter.
Who Plays William Afton in the FNAF Movie?
Matthew Lillard is set to portray William Afton in the Five Nights at Freddy's movie. Lillard is technically cast as "Steve Raglan," but the fanbase has widely decided that his true identity is clear. Lillard is a longtime character actor with a fascinating list of iconic roles. He's perhaps best known as the live-action portrayer of Norville "Shaggy" Rogers in the two live-action Scooby-Doo movies. He was so celebrated for his performances that he provided Shaggy's voice since 2009. Lillard is also well known for portraying Stu in Scream. He's been in everything from SLC Punk and 13 Ghosts to Twin Peaks and Bosch. Lillard will bring a lot of experience in the horror genre to his role as William Afton. He's a great choice for the part.
William Afton will be portrayed by Matthew Lillard in the first Five Nights at Freddy's movie. The film could lead to a franchise with the serial killer serving as its longtime villain. Lillard may be cast as a different character, but everyone has agreed that Afton goes by many names. There's still a lot left blank in the games. Fans may soon get some answers about their favorite franchise when Five Nights at Freddy's hits the big and small screens on October 27, 2023.