It’s Time for Scream 6 to Leave its Legacy Characters Behind

The fact that 2022’s Scream chose to portray its killers as entitled genre fans run amok was perhaps the most spot-on of its many critiques of the modern entertainment industry, so let’s not fall into the same trap of failing to be grateful when a franchise exceeds expectations: This new Scream really had no business being as good as it ended up being. The scion of Wes Craven’s genre-inverting 1996 original of the same name, the film I’ll henceforth be referring to as Scream 5 managed the nearly impossible feat of integrating its beloved legacy characters (Sidney Prescott, Gale Weathers, Dewey Riley) into a relevant, smartly satirical story that also introduced a worthy cast of newcomers led by Melissa Barrera and Jenna Ortega’s Sam and Tara Carpenter. In effect, they pulled off a deeply unlikely win, even with a talented team like directors Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett at the helm.

And guess what? They shouldn’t try to do it again. Refreshing as Scream 5 may have been in comparison with some of the very films it was satirizing, such as David Gordon Green’s instantly stale Halloween retreads, the franchise will only suffer by going the route of “more of the same” sequelization. But given that Scream 6 is already on the way, whether or not that’s really a good idea, what’s to be done? How do you not squander the unlikely momentum that Scream 5 afforded you? Might we suggest you finally and truly commit to the new characters you just established? And the best way to do that is simple: It’s time to finally say goodbye to the few “legacy” characters who remain. Scream 6 should not revolve around Sidney Prescott in any way, shape or form, and Scream 5 actually provides us with a logical base to justify that screenwriting choice.

If Scream 6 truly wants to be proactive in terms of steering where the genre is going, rather than just snidely commenting on where it’s recently been, then this is the route to explore. Leaving behind the “legacy” characters is the one thing that no “requel,” as Scream 5 dubbed them, has had the guts to do, and it’s the most revolutionary avenue available to a film that is set up to invariably be seen as “lesser than” simply by virtue of closely following Scream 5. Producers would no doubt be terrified by the prospect of leaving behind the debris of the past to genuinely embrace the fresh start that Scream 5 served up, but it’s the right decision. It won’t happen, of course, but I’m still going to lay out the case for it just the same.

It’s Sam’s turn to shoulder the burden of inspiring more Ghostface killings.

One of the most impressive things about Scream 5, in retrospect, is the way it builds a case for a Scream 6 without either Sidney or Gale, the two remaining “core” legacy cast members. Most importantly, it begins the process of removing the character of Sidney Prescott from being the heart of this narrative. In every previous Scream, the motivation for the killings can always be traced back to either the original sin of Sidney’s mother, or the hatred/jealousy of the fame that Sidney has subsequently accrued by surviving the killing sprees. Scream 5 finally dispenses with that notion—the killers don’t hate Sidney; rather they revere her legacy in an unhealthy way because she was the “original,” and they feel an unearned sense of ownership over her story as devoted “fans.” The killers of Scream 5 view Sidney as a true threat because she’s SIDNEY PRESCOTT, known IP commodity. Ironically, they overlook the capabilities of both Sam and Tara Carpenter, and are subsequently killed by the very pawns they attempted to exploit because they were instead focused on an infatuation with Sidney, the “original cast member.” Sidney, for the first time in a film in this series, never actually kills anyone. Gale, meanwhile, states her intention not to write about the killers at the end of the film to avoid inflating their notoriety, signaling that she’s also ready to recede from the spotlight of this story.