Halloween Kills has fans excited about the return of several original characters, but there is one character they won’t be bringing back. The new film, out October 2020, recently had a test screening, prompting more chatter about the movie's plot online.
When it was announced in 2016 that David Gordon Green was working on a new sequel to John Carpenter’s Halloween, fans were skeptical. Talk of another Halloween film had been making the rounds ever since Rob Zombie’s Halloween 2 was released in 2009. The critical and commercial beating that the film took prompted rights holders (including Trancas International Films) to reevaluate future follow-ups. A proposed third film in Zombie’s remake timeline was planned, but eventually sidelined.
Green’s film, a direct sequel to the original classic, ignored all of the follow-ups in order to bypass the convoluted timeline of previous chapters. This allowed for the inclusion of Jamie Lee Curtis, who Green had to convince to return, as her character was killed off twice – in different iterations. The 2018 Halloween pitted Strode against boogeyman Michael Myers once again, this time with help from her family. As in the original, the Halloween reboot was set in the small town of Haddonfield, though kept some previous characters, who ostensibly made it out alive, left out of the drama. However, that changed when it was announced that there would be two follow-ups to the retconned version.
Halloween Kills Won't Be Bringing Back Laurie's Crush
Halloween Kills, the second film in the proposed trilogy, is bringing back several characters from the 1978 original. It has already been announced that original actors Charles Cyphers, Kyle Richards and Nancy Stephens will all be returning to reprise their roles of Leigh Brackett, Lindsey Wallace and Marion Chambers, respectively. Another pivotal character returning, Tommy Doyle, originally played by Brian Andrews, has been replaced by former Brat Packer Anthony Michael Hall. One character that they won’t be bringing back is Laurie Strode’s offscreen crush Ben Tramer. Tramer, who was apparently crushed by a police car in Halloween 2 (1981), would make an ideal love interest for Strode in the new timeline.
Curtis’s character has been linked romantically in the series the a few times. In Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers (1988) it is suggested that she had a child with Jimmy Lloyd (played by Lance Guest) in H2. In a different timeline created in Halloween: H20 (1998) Strode is romantically involved with co-worker Will Brennan (Adam Arkin). It was originally rumored that the character of Ben Tramer was going to be brought back in the 2018 reboot, but this didn't happen. The available information surrounding Halloween Kills indicates that Tramer will remain a distant high school crush for Strode – for now.
The final film in the new trilogy, Halloween Ends, might find a way to bring the character back into flesh and blood reality in some capacity, but until the release of the final film in 2021, fans will have to be satisfied with the return of several other iconic characters from the celebrated original in Halloween Kills.
