Josh Hutcherson has been cast as the enigmatic protagonist in the Five Nights at Freddy’s movie adaptation. Hutcherson’s character, like many other FNAF characters, has developed dramatically since the first Five Nights at Freddy’s game in 2014. He has since become an integral figure in the FNAF landscape and Josh Hutcherson is the perfect actor to bring him to life.
The Five Nights at Freddy’s movie has met many delays since its announcement in 2015. Arguably these delays have benefited the Five Nights at Freddy’s movie greatly, the prime example being the development of central characters. Initially minor characters, like Hutcherson’s, have evolved to an essential facet of the FNAF‘s complex network of lore and backstory, and as such will be a crucial element in the Five Nights at Freddy’s movie.
Josh Hutcherson’s FNAF Role Explained – Who Is Mike Schmidt
Josh Hutcherson is playing Mike Schmidt, the main character from the very first Five Nights at Freddy’s game. In the initial FNAF game, Mike is an overnight security guard in Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza whom the player controls and is subsequently stalked by the murderous animatronics. The Five Nights at Freddy’s movie is adapting this first game, with Hutcherson appearing as the protagonist Mike Schmidt.
While this appears simple enough, FNAF lore is notoriously convoluted, and resultantly, Schmidt has since developed somewhat. Later FNAF games suggest that Schmidt is actually the son of Five Nights at Freddy’s William Afton (to be played by Matthew Lillard). Afton is the primary villain in the FNAF universe, responsible for building the haunted killer robots which stalk Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza. Canonically, William Afton certainly has a son named Michael, who is a central figure in the developed FNAF backstory.
Michael Afton appears in Five Nights at Freddy’s: Sister Location, again as the player-controlled protagonist fending off animatronics, but this time also revealing some essential backstory – such as the deaths of Michael Afton’s sister and the murders committed by his father. Many FNAF theorists have proposed that Mike Schmidt was a false name, given to not rouse suspicion when Mike first applied for the security guard job in Five Nights at Freddy’s, on a mission to uncover the remnants of his father’s work, and in the process, release his sister’s ghost from her animatronic prison.
Why Josh Hutcherson Is Perfect For Five Nights At Freddy’s Hero
It is unclear when, or even if, Hutcherson’s Mike Schmidt will be revealed as the son of Lillard’s Afton, but the role is evidently essential to the FNAF movie’s narrative. Mike Schmidt needs to be performed by an actor capable of portraying such a dark familial backstory while balancing with the horror-based action of the pursuing animatronics. Hutcherson is the ideal candidate for this, having received wide acclaim for comparable roles in The Hunger Games franchise and The Bridge to Terabithia, both of which infused dark fantasy with high drama and emotion. This makes Hutcherson the outstanding choice for the hero Mike Schmidt in the Five Nights at Freddy’s movie.
This story originally appeared on Screenrant
