That Five Nights At Freddy's Credits Scene Needs An Explainer
This article contains major spoilers for "Five Nights at Freddy's."
Blumhouse and Universal's live-action adaptation of "Five Nights at Freddy's" is finally here, and it certainly feels like the start of the next big horror movie franchise. The story about possessed animatronics attacking humans after hours is scary enough on its own, but learning that the killer robots run on the souls of murdered children makes it a recipe for nightmare fuel. And even still, Freddy Fazbear, Bonnie the Bunny, Foxy the Fox, Chica the Chicken, and Mr. Cupcake are not the scariest characters in the film. No, that title belongs to Steve Raglan aka William Afton who becomes — as of the end of the film — Springtrap.
William Afton is the co-founder of Fazbear Entertainment and Afton Robotics, LLC., and a serial child murderer. He's spent the last few years posing as a career counselor to send unsuspecting security guards to their deaths at Freddy Fazbear's Pizzeria, but things come to a head when he encounters Mike Schmidt, a guy looking for a job who happens to be the older brother of one of Afton's victims, Garrett Schmidt. After Mike's five nights of terror, the film ends with Afton stepping inside the yellow springlock Bonnie the Bunny suit, only for the springlock to fail, kill him, and trap him inside like an Iron Maiden. His decomposing body is also now residing inside a rotting animatronic, where he will remain for the rest of eternity.
So what does that mid-credits scene mean for the future of the franchise?
Into the Springtrap
While the "FNaF" film adaptation exists as a separate lore from the games, it's important to factor in the game's story until potential future films establish the new canon. Three decades after the events of the first game, which the film pulls from, Afton returned in the form of the damaged Spring Bonnie, as his remains were still trapped inside the decaying springlock suit. Springtrap is considered by many fans to be the ultimate baddie in the franchise, as Afton is much more powerful inside the animatronic than out. If viewers look closely, they can see the broken body of William Afton rotting within the suit.
Springtrap behaves like Afton did as a human, often teasing and taunting his victims. Killing is a fun pastime for Springtrap, and he's undoubtedly the deadliest animatronic in the game. In the games, we're unsure what happened to the Springtrap suit after Freddy Fazbear's Pizzeria burned down, but the credits scene gives us our answer. Afton and Springtrap are inseparable, and it doesn't look like the films are going to have us wait 30 years before someone finds him. Springtrap is very much alive, and there's no way that he's going to let Mike Schmidt end his reign of terror.
But the mid-credits scene sees YouTuber CoryxKenshin, who plays a cab driver, picking up a new customer outside of Freddy Fazbear's that turns out to be ... Balloon Boy from "Five Nights at Freddy's 2" for one final jump scare. This means the ending of "FNaF" is pulling elements from both the second and third games in the series, effectively establishing it's alternate-universe lore compared to the games.
What about the secret message?
As if that wasn't enough, at the very end of the credits scroll, an unseen voice spells out some letters. It might take some expert listening in theaters or a few hits of the rewind button for those watching at home, but the voice spells out "C-O-M-E-F-I-N-D-M-E" or, if you include spaces, "come find me." More than likely, this spelling is a teaser for future films, although the distorted, Speak and Spell-esque voice makes it difficult to identify who is sending the message. Is it a Springtrapped William Afton? Is it Garrett calling out to Mike and Abby from beyond the grave? Or is it someone or something else entirely?
In the Springtrap cutscene from the "Sister Location" game, Mike ends his message to William Afton by saying "I'm going to come find you. I"m going to come find you." The game this comes from is set at Freddy Fazbear's sister location, Circus Baby's Pizza World. The animatronic that the animals tried to put Abby inside? That's Circus Baby. With this message, it certainly seems like this is setting up a sequel at the Sister Location, with Mike once again having to put a stop to William Afton. But who will be the victim trapped in the Circus Baby animatronic? Or is Afton going to come after Abby to finish what he started in the first film? I guess we'll have to wait and see what the future holds.
"Five Nights at Freddy's" is now in theaters and available to stream on Peacock.