Keegan-Michael Key says a Key & Peele reunion with Jordan Peele could happen—with the right story

The actor says he and Peele have discussed a horror collaboration but won’t reunite simply for nostalgia. Keegan-Michael Key says

Sep 2, 2026 0

Keegan-Michael Key says a Key & Peele reunion with Jordan Peele could happen—with the right story

Key and Peele thegrio.com — LOS ANGELES, CA - SEPTEMBER 18: Actors Keegan-Michael Key (L) and Jordan Peele, winners of Best Variety Sketch Series for 'Key & Peele', pose in the press room during the 68th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards at Microsoft Theater on September 18, 2016 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Frazer Harrison/Getty Images)

The actor says he and Peele have discussed a horror collaboration but won’t reunite simply for nostalgia.

Keegan-Michael Key says he and longtime collaborator Jordan Peele have discussed reuniting for a horror movie, but only if the right story comes along. The Key & Peele star says Peele’s deliberate approach to filmmaking means a reunion would have to serve the story rather than simply capitalize on their shared history.

In an exclusive interview with PEOPLE, Key, 55, said he and Peele, 47, have talked about a potential horror collaboration several times. “We talk, I wouldn’t say constantly, but whenever we talk, we talk about it,” Key said. However, Key stressed that Peele would not make a project simply because it offered an opportunity to reunite the comedy duo. He described Peele as a “very considered” and careful filmmaker who wants each project to reflect the vision he has developed for the story.

Key said he could imagine Peele eventually calling him with a fully formed idea and explaining how Key’s talents could contribute to it. The pair became household names through Key & Peele, their Comedy Central sketch series that ran from 2012 to 2015. Their most recent collaboration came in 2022, when they voiced demon brothers in the stop-motion film “Wendell & Wild”.

Henry Selick, second from left, co-writer and director of the stop-motion animated film “Wendell & Wild,” poses for a portrait with voice cast members Keegan-Michael Key, left, and Lyric Ross, second from right, and co-writer/co-producer/cast member Jordan Peele during the 2022 Toronto International Film Festival, Sunday, Sept. 11, 2022, at the Shangri-La Hotel in Toronto. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)

Key also credited Peele with changing his perspective on the horror genre. Peele’s work, including ‘Get Out’, ‘Us’ and ‘Nope’, helped him appreciate the genre as a vehicle for original storytelling. That interest is now informing Key’s own career. He voices the sinister unicorn in “Buddy,” a horror-comedy that turns the cheerful world of children’s television into something much darker. The film opened in theaters in late August and has received a positive reception.

A collaboration between the two could therefore represent more than a Key & Peele reunion. It could bring two influential Black entertainers back together on creative terms rather than simply for nostalgia.