Warning: Contains SPOILERS for Scream 2022.
Scream 2022 contains a bizarre Billy Loomis character arc that changes the iconic villain's Scream legacy. First released on January 14th, 2022, Scream 2022 has garnered a highly positive critical reception, with many praising the film's tongue-in-cheek meta-horror commentary alongside a strong set of character performances. In particular, Scream 2022's so-called "Legacy Characters" are in fine fettle, with Sidney Prescott (Neve Campbell), Dewey Riley (David Arquette), Gale Weathers (Courteney Cox), and Billy Loomis (Skeet Ulrich) all returning in some capacity.
Set 25 years after Billy Loomis and Stu Macher first terrorized the town of Woodsboro in the original Scream, Scream 2022 returns its roots in a surprisingly effective play on the franchise's considerable reserves of nostalgia. Scream 2022's primary protagonist is Sam Carpenter (Melissa Barrera), who is quickly revealed to be the daughter of the first Ghostface, Billy Loomis. Sam regularly deals with hallucinations of her long-dead father, with Loomis' spectral presence eventually turning from a hindrance to help by aiding Sam in her final fight against Richie (Jack Quaid) after he is revealed as the new Ghostface.
Yet Scream 2022's Billy Loomis arc ultimately tarnishes the character's legacy that forms the backbone of the franchise. While initially a compelling wrinkle in Scream 2022's mysterious story, Billy's hallucinatory participation in the film eventually turns him into a good-aligned character, which is incredibly jarring in the context of the Scream canon. Furthermore, Scream 2022 utilizing Billy as a warped father figure completely nullifies the fact that he is the original evil that the entire Scream franchise is based on and ruins the film's plays on the Scream legacy as a result.
Scream 2022 initially brings Skeet Ulrich's Billy back in a fascinating way, teasing his presence in his daughter's mind as a reason for her to be the new Ghostface. This works particularly well given Scream 2022's gleeful use of Red Herrings and false leads that keep audiences guessing right up until its blood-stained finale at Stu Macher's (Matthew Lillard) old house. However, all of this suspense is undone when Scream 2022 chooses to bizarrely make Billy a source of strength for his daughter despite literally haunting her waking moments in every scene prior.
This new end to Billy Loomis' character arc feels incredibly misguided given his heinous nature in the original Scream. Billy's evil deeds, deceptions, and insistence on turning Woodsboro into a living horror film are what made the first Scream so gripping, with his reveal as Ghostface giving Scream a re-watchability factor that subsequent installments have severely lacked. Put simply, Billy is nothing short of heinous, with his memory looming over Woodsboro's residents and his surviving victims like Sidney still haunted by his memory over two decades later.
Scream 2022 makes it clear from the off that it is designed as a love letter to fans of the first Scream movie, as well as being an overarching tribute to the late horror legend Wes Craven. Yet its failure to properly utilize its greatest villain is simply a glaring oversight by the production that completely misses the mark and essentially retcons the scariest Ghostface of all time. Bringing back Skeet Ulrich as Billy Loomis could have been a masterstroke by Scream 2022, but instead, his new narrative role ruins the character's significant Scream franchise legacy.