After *the real* Freddy Krueger’s return on the small screen, it’s time to go bigger.

Believe it or not, we’re now 15 years removed from the last time Robert Englund played Freddy Krueger in a feature film, that film being 2003’s mashup fight flick Freddy vs. Jason. Of course, we haven’t gone completely without Freddy in those 15 years, as Jackie Earle Haley took over the role for 2010’s A Nightmare on Elm Street. But we don’t talk about that.

For the last several years, Englund has repeatedly vowed that Freddy vs. Jason was his swan song as the character, despite a couple of convention appearances in Freddy makeup. Every time he’s been asked about returning to the role, Englund has shot it down, repeating over and over again that he’s just no longer interested or even capable of going full Freddy.

“I’m too old to do another Freddy now,” Englund bluntly stated just last year.

But then something miraculous happened. Just a couple months back, it was announced that Robert Englund actually *would* be playing Freddy Krueger one more time, in a special Halloween episode of “The Goldbergs” that was to spoof/pay tribute to the Nightmare on Elm Street franchise. To make a long story short, series creator Adam F. Goldberg was able to convince Englund to slap on the makeup and striped sweater for the fans, and that episode of the ’80s-set series (humorously titled “Mister Knifey-Hands”) aired tonight on ABC.

Not only did Englund’s brief appearance on “The Goldbergs” this week deliver the goods, but more importantly, it may very well have been the catalyst for what we all really want.

One… more… movie.

But first, the big question heading into the Halloween episode of “The Goldbergs” was simple: Does Robert Englund still have it in him, or was he right to retire from his most iconic role in the wake of Freddy vs. Jason? In his cameo appearance, the 71-year-old Englund reprised the role of Freddy for a fun nightmare sequence, which saw him share the screen with actress Wendi McLendon-Covey. Not that it came as any surprise, but Englund proved that yes, he’s still got it, disappearing back into the character for a revival performance short but oh-so-sweet.

If you missed it, check out Englund’s scenes from “Mister Knifey-Hands” below. Turn up the volume and revel in a 71-year-old actor still slaying a role he first played in his thirties.

If Robert Englund’s cameo on “The Goldbergs” left you hungry for more, the best possible news here is that it seems to have made Englund himself hungry for more. Earlier this week, Englund teased during an interview that he *might* have one more Nightmare on Elm Street movie left in him, the fire seemingly re-lit within him in the wake of filming “The Goldbergs.”

Adam F. Goldberg even tweeted directly to New Line tonight after the episode premiered, doubling down on Englund’s exciting comments: “Robert said he’d never be Freddy again, but had so much fun when we shot he’s now open to it. I did my job, now you do yours!”

As Goldberg stressed, he’s hopeful that Englund’s cameo on “The Goldbergs” will lead to one more full-on performance in a reboot of the original Nightmare on Elm Street franchise, and the stars sure do seem to be aligning for that to happen. After all, the smash hit box office success of Halloween this past weekend has surely compelled New Line to at least consider bringing back Elm Street, and the fact that Englund is now open to coming back for at least one more movie puts the studio in a no-brainer situation. I beg of you, New Line. Make. That. Call.

New Line is the house that Robert Englund built. It’s time to let him back in one last time.

Side note, even if the last we ever see of Robert Englund’s Freddy was on “The Goldbergs” this week, the good news there is that Goldberg hopes to release an “uncut version” of the episode at some point in the near future. What does that mean, exactly? According to Goldberg, “So much amazing Freddy stuff had to be cut to make our 21 minutes of air time.”