Editor’s Note: The following contains spoilers for Five Nights at Freddy’s.
The Big Picture
It took years, but the Five Nights at Freddy’s killer animatronics are finally on the loose. The Blumhouse adaptation of the original games sure has a lot of ups and downs, and it also has a fun mid-credits scene — not end-credits, so don’t bother staying all the way through if you don’t want to. What’s cool about it — and a nice aspect of the whole movie, in fact — is how it goes out of its way to pay homage to the franchise’s die-hard fan community, which is alluded to in this small mid-credits scene. It doesn’t set up a larger Five Nights at Freddy’s universe, and it doesn’t explain anything left untied from the movie, but it does say a nice “thank you” for all the fan support through the years.
Release Date October 27, 2023
Director Emma Tammi
Cast Josh Hutcherson, Matthew Lillard, Elizabeth Lail, Mary Stuart Masterson
Rating PG-13
Runtime 110 minutes
Genres Horror
What Does ‘Five Nights at Freddy’s Mid-Credits Scene Mean?
At the beginning of the third act, a big and scrappy Freddy Fazbear animatronic goes to Mike Schmidt’s (Josh Hutcherson) house to get his sister, Abby (Piper Rubio), back to the restaurant. To do so, the unlikely duo hails a cab, whose driver is scared to death about having a giant one-eyes bear sitting in the backseat, complaining about how he “always gets the weirdos.” The cab driver is back mid-credits, waking up from a nap he apparently took just outside Freddy’s to the terrifying view of the Balloon Boy figure, which is a much smaller animatronic but is still spooky as hell.
The Balloon Boy is one of the lesser-known Five Nights at Freddy’s creepy puppets, his first appearance being in the second game of the franchise. In the movie, his role is almost exactly the same: hiding in corners and behind doors and scaring the bejeezus out of those who are concerned with the bigger animatronics. It does so when Mike first opens his locker in the security room, then again when one of Aunt Jane’s (Mary Stuart Masterson) goons is hiding from the Bonnie animatronic after thrashing the restaurant, and, finally, when the cab driver wakes up to see him in the passenger seat. He seems to just want to be part of the bloody fun with his bigger siblings, but his creepy and unsettling appearance makes it hard. He doesn’t even move and is always turned away when found. Poor boy.
Who Plays the Cab Driver in ‘Five Nights at Freddy’s?
One of the cooler aspects of the Five Nights at Freddy’s media franchise is how it managed to build a big and loyal fan base. The first four games came out between 2014 and 2015, right when YouTuber culture was blooming and consolidating itself as one of the go-to ways of creating and consuming some quick and original content, from weird dancing sketches to in-depth analysis of movies. One of the most popular types of YouTube gaming content is either reacting to gameplay or theorizing about what happens in the story, and that’s where our poor cab driver from the movie mid-credits scene comes from.
Although small, the role of the cab driver is hugely important to the fans not because of its significance in the Five Nights at Freddy’s universe (it really is the first time he shows up), but rather because it’s played by Cory Kenshin, who has a YouTube channel called CoryxKenshin. When the first trailer for the movie came out back in July, he published a video reacting to it on his channel, where he confirmed he was indeed part of the movie, but denied any intentions of ever becoming a full-time actor. Kenshin was offered the part by none other than franchise creator Scott Cawthon himself, who’s also one of the writers of the movie.
Cory Kenshin Isn’t the Only YouTuber Cameo in ‘Five Nights at Freddy’s
Cory Kenshin’s cameo in the mid-credits scene is a big one, and it’s still just one among many. Internet culture is hugely important for Five Nights at Freddy’s growing to be the big media franchise it is today, so the movie used that in its favor to play for the fans, too. Throughout the years, many other big names on YouTube turned to the games and helped them grow by doing playthroughs, spotting Easter eggs, and creating theories, all the while getting pretty big themselves, and now they’re all in the movie, too.
In the scene where Aunt Jane is plotting to get Mike fired in a diner with Max (Kat Conner Sterling) and her goons, their waiter mentions how “lunch is the most important meal of the day,” and says that breakfast “is just a theory.” For those who watch YouTube, this immediately rings a bell – that’s MatPat, from the channel The Game Theorists, who has an extensive list of theories about the Five Nights at Freddy’s games. Other celebrated names in YouTube culture also have smaller cameos: if you look at the “Employee of the Month” sign at Freddy’s, there are pictures of 8-Bit Ryan, Baz, Razzbowski, FusionZGamer, and Dawko, all of whom played an important role in bringing the franchise to a bigger audience.
