Scream 2 writer Kevin Williamson reveals the one character he regrets killing in Wes Craven's sequel. After the success of 1996's Scream, Neve Campbell returns as final girl Sidney Prescott, this time facing off against the Ghostface killer while at college. The sequel also sees the return of David Arquette's Dewey Riley, Courteney Cox's Gale Weathers, and Jamie Kennedy's Randy Meeks. The film was met with mostly positive reviews, continuing the first film's emphasis on clever, self-aware dialogue that calls attention to horror tropes, while also delivering a story filled with bloody, shocking kills.
As fan anticipation builds regarding the release of Scream 6 next year, Williamson reflects on writing the second film in the franchise, which celebrates its 25th anniversary this year. In a recent interview with EW, the screenwriter, who did not return to write any subsequent movies in the series, reveals that he actually regrets killing Randy in Scream 2. Although killing Kennedy's character helped to make the film more shocking to audiences, Williamson sees a certain amount of lost potential in the decision. Check out Williamson's full comment below:
"I thought if you kill someone really important to the audience in the middle, it just ups the stakes. Everything's off the table. I knew we weren't going to kill Sydney, I knew we weren't going to kill Gale or Dewey. Those three characters, for Scream 2, were safe, and so I had to look to the secondary characters. I love Randy, I would have given him a much bigger life had I known this franchise was going to live and live. I would have loved for him to be a legacy character. At the time, I thought it would just be the punch in the gut the audience needed at that time, to really get mad, and get mad at the killer."
How Randy Meeks' Scream Legacy Lives On
Randy is introduced as a horror movie geek in the first Scream movie and calls attention to various tropes of the genre. He continues this trend in Craven's follow-up movie, making funny quips about the nature of horror movie sequels until Ghostface eventually pulls him into a van and kills him. Although Randy may not appear as a legacy character in 2022's Scream, his legacy lives on. Randy's sister, Martha is introduced in Scream 3, but her two children go on to play much larger roles. This year's entry in the franchise, from directors Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillet, introduces Mindy (Jasmin Savoy-Brown) and Chad (Mason Gooding), Martha's twin children.
While Mindy and Chad are ultimately secondary characters to Melissa Barrera's Sam, Jenna Ortega's Tara, and returning legacy characters like Sidney, Dewey, and Gale, they both serve similar roles to Randy. In this year's Scream, Mindy refers to the new Ghostface predicament as a "requel" and a "legasequel," calling attention to the film's status as one that revisits elements of previous entries in the franchise while also not serving as a remake or a direct continuation. Both Mindy and Chad are expected to return in Scream 6, which will leave Woodsboro behind in favor of New York City.
What Could Be Next For Legacy Characters In Scream 6
Despite being a mainstay of the franchise, Campbell's Sidney will not be returning in Scream 6 due to a pay dispute. Arquette's Dewey will also not be returning since the character was killed in this year's franchise entry, but Scream 4's Kirby (Hayden Panettiere) is confirmed to be making a comeback. Combined with the return of Cox's Gale, the upcoming entry in the franchise is slated to be lighter on legacy characters than its predecessor, potentially meaning the film will serve as a more concrete passing of the torch as Sam and Tara take center stage. Although it's now been 25 years since Scream 2, Randy's death remains a divisive subject among franchise fans, and many would surely like the character to still be alive today.
Source: EW
