‘Willy’s Wonderland Prequel’ Turns the Party into a Slaughterhouse

We couldn’t resist diving into the origin story of our favorite murder mascots from the 2021 comedy horror movie Willy’s Wonderland, the one where Nicolas Cage spends an entire runtime beating up haunted animatronics without saying a single word.

The Willy’s Wonderland Prequel comic is written by James Kuhoric and S.A. Check, two creators we’ve enjoyed in other bloody delights like Return of the Living Dead and Silent Night, Deadly Night. Kuhoric is a multi-award-winning writer, editor, and President of American Mythology Productions, with licensed comic credits across Stargate SG-1, Battlestar Galactica, The Six Million Dollar Man, and the cult favorite mash-up Freddy vs. Jason vs. Ash. Check, a sci-fi and fantasy novelist out of Pennsylvania, has also co-written American Mythology’s Night of the Living Dead comics with Kuhoric. The art is by Puis Calzada, who also brought a gritty visual style to Silent Night, Deadly Night, and once again delivers horror vibes that feel both chaotic and weirdly charming. The creative team knows how to handle a good slash-fest, and this prequel is no exception.

A Quick Trip Back to the Movie

For anyone who hasn’t seen it, Willy’s Wonderland was directed by Kevin Lewis from a screenplay by G.O. Parsons, and it follows a silent drifter, credited only as “The Janitor,” who agrees to clean an abandoned family fun center overnight to pay off car repairs, only to discover the place’s eight animatronic mascots are possessed by the souls of a serial killer and his followers. It was a modest theatrical release on a five million dollar budget, but it’s grown into a genuine cult favorite since, and as of late 2025, the creative team and Cage himself have reportedly been developing ideas for a sequel. As big horror fans (and occasional Nicolas Cage fans), we really liked the movie when it came out, so of course we were curious to check out the comic series.

What Is Willy’s Wonderland Prequel About?

This four-issue series takes us back to the cursed beginnings of Willy’s Wonderland, long before Nicolas Cage showed up to clean house. The restaurant is reopening after a history of gruesome incidents, but there’s something far more sinister than bad Yelp reviews haunting the place. Inside the animatronics are the trapped spirits of murderers, and the bloodbath begins anew when a group of kids ends up having a very unlucky birthday sleepover. With each issue, the violence escalates and the twisted backstory of Willy, Ozzie, Cammy, Gus, and the rest of the gang comes into full gory view.

Turning the Mascots Into Monsters

Issue 1 sets the stage with some truly nasty backstory and lets the blood start dripping right away. It’s clear pretty quickly that these animatronics aren’t just glitchy mascots, they’re haunted by real killers, which makes it all the more horrifying, and it gives the comic a chance to dig into exactly the kind of backstory the movie never had time for. The film drops you into the middle of an already-established nightmare, so there’s something satisfying about finally seeing how Willy, Ozzie, Cammy, Gus, and the rest of the crew actually got that way in the first place.

Issue 2 gets absolutely wild with a sleepover party massacre, and from there it just ramps up. Every issue is bloodier than the last, with creative kills and over-the-top carnage that fit perfectly into the world of Willy’s Wonderland. What I appreciate most is that the book never tries to slow down and justify itself, it commits fully to the same over-the-top energy that made the movie so much fun in the first place, just with more room to spread out across four issues instead of one 88-minute runtime. For a franchise built almost entirely around one very silly, very bloody premise, the prequel does a surprisingly good job of making that mythology feel like it was always there waiting to be told. It’s gory, ridiculous, and totally entertaining if you’re in the mood for campy horror fun.

Read the prequel and then go rewatch the movie, it’s the perfect double feature for horror fans who like their slashers a little weird and a lot bloody.

More Horror From the Big Screen

If you like your horror comics tied to a movie franchise, we’ve also covered A Quiet Place: Storm Warning, the first-ever comic set in that film series’ sound-hunted world.

FAQ

Is the Willy’s Wonderland Prequel worth reading? Yes, especially if you’re already a fan of the movie and want more backstory on the animatronics themselves.

Do you need to watch the movie before reading the prequel? No, but it definitely adds context and makes the payoff more fun if you already know how the animatronics end up in the movie’s timeline.

Who is writing and drawing the Willy’s Wonderland Prequel? James Kuhoric and S.A. Check write the series, with art by Puis Calzada and covers by Buz Hasson and Ken Haeser.

Is the Willy’s Wonderland Prequel a one-shot, miniseries, or ongoing series? It’s a four-issue miniseries, running from October 2021 to August 2022.