Best Tony Todd Roles, Ranked

Key Takeaways

• Tony Todd excelled in various roles bringing nuance and depth to characters across multiple genres.
• His voice was iconic in creating a tense atmosphere in games like Layers of Fear 2 and Spider-Man 2.
• Todd’s performances as villains, heroes, and mysterious figures left a lasting impact, making him a legendary horror icon.

November 6th, 2024 was a tragic day for many people, when the world lost another legend known and beloved far and wide for the variety of roles that no one else could quite do justice to the same as Tony Todd did. Winning multiple awards over the course of his acting and voice acting career, he left behind a legacy of memorable roles.

Though most will know him for playing the titular Candyman from the horror classic, there are many other roles that deserve to be paid tribute to from a wide array of movies and even video games.

8 The Director (Layers of Fear 2)

His Iconic Voice was Perfect for the Atmosphere

The first game in the series revolved around the tragic story of an artist and his family, and the il fate that befell them all, set inside the confines of a house that warped as the characters’ reality unraveled. Layers of Fear 2 told a new tale set aboard a ship and all about an actor. It is only fitting that the actor’s role in the game is narrated by the director, as though they are shooting a movie and the director is guiding their steps.

These games revel in both art direction and creating a tense atmosphere, as Layers of Fear never relies on cheap jumpscares or Resident Evil-esque monsters. Tony Todd’s deep and scratchy voice is the perfect companion, helping to drive home the horror of the game and its story. Each line is delivered perfectly, and there is no other that could have delivered the same chills with every spoken piece of dialogue.

7 The Funeral Director (Final Destination)

A Mysterious Figure Always Offering Cryptic Words

• Director(s): James Wong
• Release Date: March 17th, 2000
• Runtime: 1hr 38m

The Final Destination movies show that death is an inevitability, and all attempts to flee from it are futile. Viewers will see the poor unfortunate souls the grim reaper wants to reap suffer some of the worst deaths cinema history has ever cooked up, but that doesn’t seem to phase William Bludworth, who works as a mortician, so has the pleasure of seeing many of the mangled corpses.

But there is more to this man than an iron stomach. He seems to have great knowledge about Death and its machinations, which are mostly a mystery to everyone else. He usually speaks very cryptically to the survivors but offers some advice that could help them survive in Final Destination 5. Tony Todd perfectly encapsulates the mystery of Bludworth’s character, who became quite popular among fans of the franchise. It’s not a stretch to imagine that Tony Todd’s stellar performance had a hand in Bludworth’s popularity.

6 The Fallen (Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen)

A Captivating Performance as the True Founder of the Decepticons

• Director(s): Michael Bay
• Release Date: June 24th, 2009
• Runtime: 2hr 30m

Having worked with Bay previously as Captain Darrow in The Rock, it only seemed inevitable he would have a role in his flagship series, Transformers, specifically Revenge of the Fallen. As the title suggests, the Fallen, the original Decepticon is returning, and it wants revenge for being defeated by the Primes in 17,000 BC.

This exciting and new (or rather extremely old) threat deserved a voice to match its legacy and threat, and who better to answer the call than Tony Todd? Having made a name for himself as various other villainous characters in cinema history, Todd added a sinister layer to this character that really went above and beyond for this PG-13 movie. With an overall darker and grittier tone than previous Transformers movies, Tony Todd was the perfect choice for the Fallen and gave the performance of a lifetime.

5 Captain Darrow (The Rock)

A Badass Mercenary Viewers Almost Want to Root For

• Director(s): Michael Bay
• Release Date: June 7th, 1996
• Runtime: 2hr 16m

Before Transformers, Michael Bay was better known for his work on movies such as The Rock, an action flick about a group of rogue military men attempting to unleash a nerve gas attack on the people of San Fransico from the confines of Alcatraz.

Though he is not the main character of the movie, Tony Todd steals the show whenever he is on-screen. Playing the nefarious Captain Darrow who gets in on the mission for the promise of a good payday, there is no denying Darrow is selfish, cold-hearted, and downright evil, even. But as always with Tony Todd, he leads such a captivating performance viewers can’t help but love, even if they don’t quite agree with his actions. Even after Hummel has a change of heart about their plan, Darrow shows no remorse, staying the villain right to the end.

4 Ben (Night of the Living Dead 1990)

Todd Stars in the Rare Role of a Protagonist

• Director(s): Tom Savini
• Release Date: October 9th, 1990
• Runtime: 1hr 28m

Upon the release of the original, Night of the Living Dead was a ground-breaking movie. Though it was not the first zombie movie, having been preceded by films such as White Zombie, it is still one of the most definitive, having influenced the genre as a whole, and indeed all horror. The special effects were gruesomely realistic, and it featured a black man as the main protagonist, which for the 1960s was impressively progressive.

The 1990s remake wouldn’t quite have the same effect as the original, but it was still a commendable remake nonetheless, casting Tony Todd. Mostly known for his work as villains, this was one of the rare but welcome occasions he tackled the role of the hero. Ben is one of the most underrated horror protagonists, and Tony Todd offered a near-flawless performance, paying great homage to Duane Jones, the original actor.

3 Grange (The Crow)

One of the More Intimidating Mobster’s

The Crow is an excellent movie starring two movie legends who have now passed, Brandon Lee and Tony Todd. Crime runs rampant in the city, especially Devil’s Night. Top Dollar’s boys break into Eric and Shelley’s apartment, killing them both. One year later, Eric is brought back from the dead by a crow in order to right the wrong done to him and his fiancee by taking out their killers.

Top Dollar’s gang is infested with deranged people who are loud, obnoxious, and crazy enough to swallow bullets–and then there is Grange. One of the higher-ranked members of the gang, Grange keeps a cool head no matter the situation, and his intimidating presence is brought on so naturally by Tony Todd’s acting skills. Villainy is where he truly thrives, and this is evident in his role in The Crow. Though he is not the primary antagonist, his presence on screen is anything but insignificant.

2 Venom (Spider-Man 2)

His Rich and Guttural Voice Perfectly Suited the Symbiote

Spider-Man 2 was bigger and better than the previous games in Insomniac’s Spider-Man franchise, seeing both Spider-Men swing into action against new threats such as Kraven the Hunter, the Cult of the Flame, and Venom, one of his biggest enemies in Spider-Man history. The latter proved to be the biggest threat in the game, taking over New York and turning many of its citizens into symbiotes. Even Peter was in Venom’s clutches for a portion of the game.

Such a lauded and epic villain needed a performance to match. There have been many actors and voice actors who have played the role of Venom before, such as Tom Hardy in the Sony’s Universe version, but there is no one that could top Tony Todd’s performance in the game. His rich and guttural voice went beyond what an ordinary human’s should, driving home the cosmic horror that is Venom. Every line spoken felt terrifying to hear, even more so when it slithered out of the speaker on the PS5 controller, as though Venom was breaking the fourth wall and directly addressing the player rather than Spider-Man.

1 Candyman (Candyman 1992)

A Horror Icon Both Terrifying and Alluring

• Director(s): Bernard Rose
• Release Date: October 16th, 1992
• Runtime: 1hr 41m

Say his name five times, and he might just appear, just like another certain mirror-dwelling urban legend. And that is essentially what Candyman is thought to be in the movie, nothing more than an urban legend, or more importantly, as a way for the residents of Cabrini-Green to cope with racial discrimination. The latter becomes the basis for Helen’s college thesis, but she is about to learn that Candyman is a more tangible figure than she ever could have imagined, and now she may be the next one to die at the hands of a legend.

Candyman isn’t a typical run-of-the-mill jumpscare or blood and gore fest; it is more subtle in its application of horror, utilizing real-world problems at its core even for the backstory of its villain, if that is even the right way to quantify the eponymous character. His affinity with bees and hook-hand will undoubtedly startle some people, but his origin story immediately evokes a sense of empathy. Tony Todd’s nuanced and alluring portrayal of the urban legend is exactly what the character needed and deserved. He even insisted on using real bees for that one certain scene all fans know and adore, showing how Todd really went above and beyond, providing the performance of a lifetime and solidifying himself as a horror legend.