Final Destination shows that Death can’t be cheated, and Death itself makes an appearance in two scenes, but it’s unrelated to Tony Todd’s character. Amid the peak of teen horror movies in the late 1990s and 2000s came Final Destination, created by Jeffrey Reddick and directed by James Wong. Despite not being the critics’ favorite, Final Destination was praised for its premise and creativity, and as it succeeded at the box office, it spawned a franchise with a total of six movies. Final Destination also gave the audience a new way of looking at death, making it a character.

The events of Final Destination kick off when Alex Browning (Devon Sawa) has a vision of the plane he just boarded exploding shortly after take-off. Alex panics and he, some of his friends and classmates, and one teacher are taken off the plane, which explodes just like in his vision. As they cheat Death, this begins to haunt them and kills them one by one in truly bizarre but shocking ways. Although Death is the main villain, Final Destination focuses on its actions rather than its physical appearance, though it does appear in two scenes.

Death Appears As A Shadow In Tod & Ms. Lewton’s “Accidents” In Final Destination

Death Makes A Sneaky Appearance In Final Destination

Not long before Death claims its victim’s life, it leaves a couple of clues. Throughout Final Destination, these clues manifest to Alex, who does his best to save his friends when he understands they’re next on Death’s list. The first to die after the plane crash is Tod (Chad Donella), Alex’s best friend, who Death takes after unleashing a strange series of events in his bathroom that culminate with Tod being accidentally hanged in his shower.

However, seconds before his death, Tod is looking at himself in the mirror and a dark shadow pᴀsses behind him. This is Final Destination’s way of portraying Death, and it does it again when it’s Ms. Lewton’s (Kristen Cloke) turn. Lewton is at her home, preparing for a cozy night in when Death decides to arrive. When Lewton puts the kettle on the stove, a black shadow is reflected on the kettle – seconds later, a series of weird events leads to Lewton being impaled by a kitchen knife and her house exploding.

At one point in his search for answers, Alex meets William Bludworth (Tony Todd), a mysterious mortician who knows too much about Death. Bludworth has appeared in almost every Final Destination movie (he skipped the fourth movie), but the mystery around him has only grown. It has been theorized that Bludworth could be Death himself or a villain, but, at least in Final Destination, Death appears twice and it isn’t Bludworth.

Final Destination: Bloodlines Will Finally Explain Tony Todd’s Character Backstory

William Bludworth’s Story Is Finally Being Told

The Final Destination franchise is preparing for the release of its sixth movie, Final Destination: Bloodlines. Following the style of most of the saga’s sequels, Bloodlines is expected to be a standalone sequel, and it follows a college student who is being tormented by a recurring nightmare about the deaths of her family. To stop it, she returns home to find the person who can prevent it and learn more about these nightmares, as her grandmother once had a vision of a collapsing building and saved as many people as she could.

William Bludworth is the only character from past Final Destination movies returning in Bloodlines, marking one of Tony Todd’s final performances. Final Destination: Bloodlines is expected to explore Bludworth’s backstory through flashbacks, so hopefully, his connection to Death and why he knows so much about its plans and design will be explained – and it’s to be seen if Death will make another physical appearance.