While I imagine Sophia’s story seems to take place a while before the lake freezes, I wonder if this sequel zone also hinges on music waking these creatures up. Maybe we get a crone version of Sophia in the beginning giving us “the curse, it’s real, get out of here” vibes, and maybe she’s possessed into playing her violin…
…or perhaps there’s another musical reason the fisherman wake up. Creepy music box in the first scene? Maybe a player piano, or even a radio or record player? Perhaps some “new” technology mimics the Moonlight Sonata and the ship has literally crashed into the new musical contraption.
I like the idea that the lead fisher (“old man”) is able to change back and forth in the way that Barbossa changes back and forth from skeleton to fleshy. I hope they use a pepper’s ghost for the first fisherman to signal the arrival of the drowned sailors.