The recent announcement of an I Know What You Did Last Summer legacy sequel has quickly prompted speculation over character reprisals and the killer's return, but the answer has actually already been set up. The classic 1990s slasher movie retained a long-lasting cult following thanks to the deftly delivered mystery surrounding the killer's identity. Details of the I Know What You Did Last Summer sequel are currently unrevealed, but many horror sequels have persisted and revived their primary antagonist upon much flimsier premises than I Know What You Did Last and its sequel previously established.

The I Know What You Did Last Summer sequel has already received much clout with the announcement that Jennifer Love Hewitt and Freddie Prinze Jr are in talks to reprise their starring roles as protagonists Julie and Ray. While I Know What You Did Last Summer the killer, also known as the Fisherman, is revealed to be grieving father Ben Willis (portrayed by Muse Watson). The direct sequel, I Still Know What You Did Last Summer depicts Willis's return and fatal demise at the hands of Julia and Ray. Interestingly, both movies included a similar teaser during their epilogues, which are now reaching fruition decades later.

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I Know What You Did Last Summer's Legacy Sequel Can Payoff Killer Return Teases

I Know What You Did Last Summer - Muse Watson as Ben Willis

Like Halloween's Michael Myers, I Know What You Did Last Summer states that Willis is missing and presumed dead. Later, Julie finds a message written on a steamed-up mirror reading, "I still know," before a dark figure attacks her. The I Know What You Did Last Summer legacy sequel could pick up this continuity, disregarding the sequel and using the tease of Willis's survival as its set-up. This, however, might not be necessary. I Still Know What You Did Last Summer also teased a return despite Julie shooting and killing Willis in the previous scene: Willis appears under Julie's bed and attacks her. But this is also narratively justified.

Throughout I Still Know What You Did Last Summer Julie suffers from nightmares involving the murderous fisherman, like her contemporary, Scream's Sidney Prescott. The final scene in I Still Know What You Did Last Summer shifts tonally enough to suggest the possibility that this is another of Julie's nightmares, throwing everything depicted into question. If Julie shooting and killing Willis could have happened only in Julie's mind, Willis is narratively available for a return decades later. This means the canon established by the original 2 movies can be maintained moving forward, only disregarding the forgotten, unrelated third film and the panned TV series. Prinze and Hewitt returning would facilitate this.

Why The Time's Right For An I Know What You Did Last Summer Sequel

Four teenagers sit in a car in I Know What You Did Last Summer.

Unlike other horror franchises, I Know What You Did Last Summer escaped the slew of subpar sequels and revivals. The third movie, I'll Always Know What You Did Last Summer, and the Amazon Prime adaptation went largely unnoticed, meaning audiences are not fatigued by an overly saturated franchise like the A Nightmare On Elm Street sequels. Moreover, the legacy sequel approach to horror franchises has been largely perfected in recent years, particularly by I Know What You Did Last Summer's slasher contemporary, Scream. As a result, I Know What You Did Last Summer can ride the success of these other franchises, safe in the knowledge that their return was teased decades earlier.

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