We’re just over two weeks away from the release of Scream 7, which looks to bring the franchise back full circle to where it started all the way back in 1996. The marketing materials sell it as a back-to-basics horror fest, with the focus returning to Sidney Prescott and a promise that this murder spree will hit her closer to home than ever before. And like with all of the other Scream sequels, the fandom is now scratching their chins wondering just who the person (or people) behind the Ghostface mask will be. The trailers certainly seem to be pointing in one particular direction, but he’s just one of the possible killers.
We’ll go over that particular individual first, but we’ll also look over the cast list and see who else is a potential candidate. It’s tough because the vast majority of the characters are so shrouded in secrecy, but some still seem more likely than others.
3) Stu Macher
Image Courtesy of Miramax
There have long been rumors that Matthew Lillard’s Stu Macher would return to the Scream franchise. A lot of that originated from people thinking that his getting a TV to the noggin in the original film wasn’t quite enough to kill him. Once more that rumor is being passed around the fandom, because for the first time a Scream movie is really, really trying to make it look like Macher is again the killer. And it’s for that reason he probably isn’t. The main appeal of Scream is that we learn who the killer is in the third act. That’s a massive part of the appeal and the fun.
If we know who it is from the first act on, it sort of flies in the face of what sets the franchise apart. If it does end up being Macher, it was quite obvious all along, from the killer burning down the Macher house to Lillard’s name being on the poster, which indicates more than a cameo like Scott Foley’s Roman Bridger will almost certainly be. Speaking of which, Bridger isn’t the killer. He got a bullet to the head in Scream 3…he’s definitely dead. Here’s the likely case for Macher in Scream 7: He’s essentially the Hannibal Lecter to Ghostface’s Buffalo Bill. Macher has an idea who Ghostface is, but he isn’t the main villain himself. He’s just someone Sidney consults with at some point in the movie.
This is likely for two reasons. One, in the Super Bowl trailer, we get a shot of Fallbrook Psychiatric Hospital. Sounds like where Stu would be if he survived that TV to the head. Two, we hear Lillard’s voice say “This is gonna be fun” in that trailer. We also hear Roger Jackson’s iconic Ghostface voice. If it was Stu it’s likely he would just be using his voice, without a care in the world that Sidney or anyone else would recognize him.
2) Two Potential Unconfirmed Legacy Killers
images courtesy of miramax and dimension films
The confirmed returning characters are David Arquette’s Dewey, Scott Foley’s Roman, and Matthew Lillard’s Stu. The safe money is Sidney having a vision of Dewey and Roman while Stu has a physical presence. But there are two other legacy killers who could have survived.
Let’s look at all the other potential returning killers. Is there a chance any of them survived their movie the way Stu could have? Billy Loomis was shot in the head. He’s gone (and we already saw him as a vision in Sam Carpenter’s head in Scream and Scream VI). Scream 2‘s Mrs. Loomis was also shot in the head while Mickey Altieri was shot multiple times in the torso. He could be alive, and it would definitely be fun to see Timothy Olyphant again (it would also go along with the line in the trailer about the killer having planned all this for years).
In Scream 4, Charlie was stabbed in the heart by Jill who then got a defibrillator to the head and a bullet to the chest. Now, because the focus is back on Sid in Scream 7 instead of on the Carpenter sisters, let’s immediately count out the killers from Scream (2022) and Scream VI, who are all definitely dead anyway. That leaves the list of possibilities as Mickey and Jill. It wouldn’t be surprised if either one appears, even if just as a vision in Sid’s mind.
1) Any Other Possibles on the Newbie Roster? Two of Them Look Suspicious
image courtesy of paramount pictures
There are 14 characters on the final poster for Scream 7. Let’s go in increasing order of likelihood. Sidney, Gale, and Isabel May’s Tatum Prescott will not be the killers. We known Jimmy Tatro and Michelle Randolph’s characters, who are not on the poster, die because the trailer released last October showed it happen, likely towards the beginning of the film. We might as well take Jasmin Savoy Brown’s Mindy and Mason Gooding’s Chad out, as well. Sad to say, but they’re far more likely to be victims this time.
That leaves nine: Mckenna Grace, Asa Germann, Celeste O’Connor, Sam Rechner, Ethan Embry, Timothy Simons, and Mark Consuelos’ unnamed characters as well as Anna Camp, who plays Sidney’s neighbor, and Joel McHale, who plays Sidney’s husband, Mark Evans. If we’re going by how sketchy they look on the poster, the characters played by Grace and Germann seem like possibles. Grace would be a particularly interesting choice, considering her star is on the rise playing consistently likable characters.
Who do you think the killer or killers will be in Scream 7? Leave a comment below and join the conversation now in the ComicBook Forum!
