Who Is Corey Cunningham in ‘Halloween Ends’? Meet Michael Myers’ Protégée

There’s a new villain terrorizing Haddonfield in Halloween Ends, and horror fans are mad about it.

Corey Cunningham, played by Rohan Campbell, isn’t a serial killer in the same way Michael Myers is a serial killer—he’s a cool serial killer. Myers, now an old man, has always been described as “pure evil.” He’s not someone you sympathize with. And he’s certainly not someone you lust after.

But Corey has a sympathetic backstory. Corey is quiet, charming, and cute. He’s less pure evil, and more like the so-called attractive serial killers that earn themselves Netflix series and movies starring Zac Efron. And, to the chagrin of many fans who were hoping Halloween Ends would give Michael Myers a proper send-off, Corey eats up a lot of screen time as the final movie’s main villain.

If you’ve been hearing about this Corey figure and want to know what all the fuss is about, read on to find out who is Corey in Halloween Ends.

Warning: Major Halloween Ends spoilers ahead.

WHO IS COREY IN HALLOWEEN ENDS?

Corey Cunningham is a new character in the Halloween franchise, who ultimately becomes a new villain who teams up with Michael Myers. He’s introduced at the beginning of Halloween Ends as a twenty-something kid who shows up for a babysitting job in Haddonfield on Halloween night, 2019—one year after the events of the 2018 Halloween movie and its sequel, Halloween Kills. A tragic accident leads to the death of the child Corey is watching. Corey is arrested, but ultimately let off without jail time. That doesn’t stop the rest of Haddonfield from believing he’s a killer babysitter.

Four years later, Laurie Strode witnesses Corey being assaulted by local teen bullies. Laurie introduces Corey to her granddaughter, Allyson (Andi Matichak), and the two immediately hit it off and become involved romantically. But Corey continues to be harassed, and one particularly bad incident leads to him discovering the secret lair of Michael Myers. Michael gears up to kill Corey but then stops. Michael sees something in Corey’s eyes, perhaps a hint of a serial killer kindred spirit. That, or Michael Myers uses some sort of latent supernatural ability to possess Corey. It’s not super clear.

Either way, after that encounter—which ends with Corey stabbing a homeless man in self-defense—Corey seems to have caught the serial killer bug. He teams up with Michael Myers to terrorize and kill more Haddonfield residents.

IS COREY MICHAEL MYERS?

No. Corey and Michael Myers are two separate people, brought together by their love of killing people. That said, Corey does wear the Michael Myers mask at one point. It’s not clear how, exactly, he gets the mask—did Michael give it to him?—but at the end of the movie, he appears in Laurie’s house, donning the Michael Myers mask, and tries to kill her.

Laurie and Corey fight. Laurie is not aiming to kill and offers to get Corey help. But Corey insists that if he can’t have Allyson, then “no one can.” Then he sticks a knife in his own throat.

DOES COREY DIE IN HALLOWEEN ENDS?

Yes. Though it seemed like the movie was introducing Corey as a new villain to carry on the franchise as the new Michael Myers, Corey ultimately dies in Halloween Ends. It’s a fairly definitive death, too—if you didn’t think the knife to the throat finished the job, the real Michael Myers later shows up and snaps Corey’s neck when he takes back his mask.

The Halloween franchise is notorious for not-really-dead deaths, but it seems pretty hard to come back from a broken neck. RIP Corey Cunningham, you would have loved your own serial killer franchise.