The Scream franchise is back with a fifth installment that reunites the original survivors of Ghostface’s killing sprees, and here are the biggest story reveals and Easter eggs in the first trailer for Scream. Master of horror Wes Craven will be forever known for his pioneering work in the horror genre, especially in the slasher subgenre, with creations like the A Nightmare on Elm Street franchise. However, in the 1990s, he brought something completely different to the horror genre with Scream, written by Kevin Williamson, and which spawned a franchise that is now being revived with a new movie.

Scream is credited with revitalizing the slasher genre in the 1990s and is notable for how it addressed horror clichés and the awareness of its characters of real-world horror movies, even taking notes from them on how to survive their own nightmarish situation. Scream introduced the audience to Sidney Prescott (Neve Campbell), a high school student in the fictional town of Woodsboro, California, who was haunted by a masked killer known as Ghostface. Sidney became the final girl of the Scream franchise and has been aided through it by antagonist-turned-ally Gale Weathers (Courteney Cox) and Dwight “Dewey” Riley (David Arquette), sheriff of Woodsboro and brother of one of Sidney’s friends who was killed by one of the original Ghostface killers.

Related: Why Scream 5 Needs Sidney Prescott To Reboot The Franchise Properly

The Scream franchise is formed by four movies, all directed by Wes Craven, and while Scream 4 wrapped up the arcs of Sidney, Gale, and Dewey, there was still room for one more killing spree. A decade after the release of Scream 4, fans of the franchise will reunite with Sidney, Gale, and Dewey in Scream, directed by Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett. Scream will see Sidney returning to Woodsboro after a new wave of murders begins, and the victims are all related somehow to the past killers. Scream is scheduled for a January 14, 2022 release, and the first trailer has now been released – and here’s what it reveals about the story and its connections to past Scream movies.

21. Scream 2022 References Drew Barrymore's Casey From The Original Scream

Scream 2022 Casey reference

The Scream trailer begins in a very Scream style: with the death of a young woman. The original Scream famously killed Drew Barrymore’s character, Casey Becker, in the first 10 minutes after Barrymore’s image was used in posters and more. Casey’s death established the killer’s modus operandi and showed that they had everything carefully planned, as they not only terrorized Casey on the phone but also kidnapped and killed her boyfriend Steve Orth in front of her. The opening of the Scream trailer references Casey’s death by having a new victim, home alone, getting a call from the killer.

20. Ghostface's First Victim In Scream 2022

Tara standing in her kitchen in Scream 2022

The aforementioned victim is Tara Carpenter (Jenna Ortega), one of the new characters in the franchise. Tara had been talking to her killer for a while as they had been posing as her friend Amber, with Tara telling “her” she was home alone, allowing the killer to continue with their plan. The new Ghostface killer doesn’t want to know what Tara’s favorite scary movie is: they want to play a game, even if she doesn’t want to.

19. How Scream 2022 Is Updating Ghostface's Methods

Scream 2022 Ghostface new methods

Even Ghostface has to adapt to the modern world, and the killer updated their methods to add more fear and also make the chase a bit more fun (to them and viewers, of course). Ghostface is not only calling its victims but also texting them, posing like people they know in order to better plan their next move. However, the biggest change in the killer’s methods is how they hacked the security system of Tara’s house, through which they could unlock all doors while she tried to lock them back. It’s a fun twist and exchange between killer and victim, but obviously a very stressful one for Tara.

Related: Scream: Why Billy And Stu Are Never Alone Together

18. Neve Campbell Is Back as Sidney Prescott

Scream 2022 Sidney is back

After Tara’s death, viewers are reunited with Neve Campbell’s Sidney Prescott, who has been living a much more calm life since the events of Scream 4, but she’s about to be pulled back into a new murder spree at Woodsboro. Sidney is seen running when she gets a call from a very familiar character, and this is the audience’s first look at Sidney in this new story.

17. David Arquette Returns As Dewey

Dewey on the phone in Scream 2022

The call is from none other than David Arquette’s Dewey Riley, who is letting Sidney know that “it’s happening again” and there have been three attacks so far. Dewey doesn’t look like he’s the sheriff of Woodsboro anymore, and he might not be with Gale anymore either, as he’s seen living in what looks like a trailer, while in Scream 4, he lived with Gale in a big house. Dewey is understandably shaken, as a decade has passed since they had to deal with killers wearing the Ghostface costume.

16. Why Sidney Prescott Always Carries A Gun

Sidney talking on the phone outside in Scream 2022

During that conversation, Dewey asks Sidney if she has a gun, to which she replies “I’m Sidney Prescott, of course I have a gun”. In Scream, Randy told Sidney and Gale that the supposedly dead killer always comes back for one final scare, with Sidney shooting Billy in the head as soon as he does so. Sidney did it again in Scream 2 when Mickey “came back”, and in Scream 3, she told Dewey to shoot Roman in the head. Sidney knows well that the killer can have many ways to survive and protect themselves, but they can’t escape a bullet to the head.

15. Ghostface's Attacks In Scream 2022 "Feel Different"

Scream 2022 new victim

In a voiceover, Dewey says that these new kills and killer “feel different”. This might have something to do with the methods Ghostface is using now, as they’re not only using technology in their favor but they also seem to be a lot more brutal, as seen with Tara’s death at the beginning of the trailer. Sidney and Dewey have experience with different killers, but they surely aren’t ready for what this new one has planned.

Related: Scream: Every Character In All 4 Movies

14. Ghostface Stalks Another Victim

Scream 2022 new victim car

As Dewey says that this new wave of murders feels different, the trailer shows Ghostface going after another victim. This time, it’s a man in what looks like the back of an establishment, perhaps a bar or club given the graffiti on the door and the many cans scattered on the floor. Ghostface lures this new victim in by turning on the lights of a car, pointing at him, leading him to approach the car and see that no one’s inside – but the killer, in very slasher fashion, is right behind him. Ghostface is getting creative and doesn’t care about killing its victims in open spaces.

13. Sidney Meets With Sam

Scream 2022 Sam Carpenter Melissa Barrera

Sidney then approaches a young woman named Sam Carpenter (Melissa Barrera), who is quick to tell her she knows who she is. Sam seems to be Tara’s sister, which explains why Sidney would meet her, as she will surely want to learn more about the victims to anticipate the killer’s next move and keep others safe. Sam appears a couple more times throughout the Scream trailer, so she will surely be one of the main characters out of the new cast, and she could be the new final girl in the franchise.

12. Sidney Acknowledges Her Final Girl Status

Sidney talks to someone offscreen in Scream 2022

While talking to Sam, Sidney tells her that she has “been through this. A lot”, acknowledging her status in Woodsboro as the final girl. Surely, Sidney has gone through hell and back even before the events of the first Scream movie, as her mother was killed and she was later haunted by different killers wearing the Ghostface mask. Just like she did in Scream 4, Sidney will use all that experience to help the new, potential targets of the Ghostface killer and keep them safe, while also discovering who’s behind the mask and what their real motivations are.

11. Scream 2022's New Characters Are Introduced

Scream 5 new characters

The trailer takes some time to introduce (though very quickly) some of the new characters that will come across the new Ghostface. These characters are Mindy Meeks-Martin (Jasmin Savoy Brown), Amber Freeman (Mikey Madison), Chad Meeks-Martin (Mason Gooding), Wes Hicks (Dylan Minnette), and Liv McKenzie (Sonia Ben Ammar). Some of these already have some obvious connections to other Scream characters and are thus linked to past killers somehow – for instance, Mindy and Chad are "Meeks", like Randy Meeks (Jamie Kennedy) and his sister Martha (Heather Matarazzo), who briefly appeared in Scream 3, so she could be the mother of these two characters. There's also Wes Hicks, who could be related to Deputy Judy Hicks (Marley Shelton), introduced in Scream 4, and who helped Gale and Sidney at the hospital during the final act of the movie. These new characters could either be victims of Ghostface or the killer(s), similar to what happened in Scream and Scream 4.

Related: Scream: Why There Must Be (At Least) One More Secret Killer

10. Courteney Cox's Gale Weathers Is Back

Scream 2022 Sidney Gale

Courteney Cox’s Gale Weathers is back. The trailer briefly shows her with Sidney getting ready to face the new Ghostface killer, but as brave as Gale has always been, this time her attitude feels different. Sidney asks Gale if she’s ready, with a visibly shaken Gale replying “for this? never”. This exchange could come after an encounter with Ghostface or Gale witnessing a shocking death, but she surely isn’t willing to let Ghostface get away with it.

9. Dewey's Rules For Surviving Scream (Are They Randy's?)

Dewey tells Sam and Richie the rules in Scream 5

One of the most memorable and beloved characters in the Scream franchise is Randy Meeks, Sidney’s best friend who provided the characters and the audience with the rules to successfully survive a horror movie (which, of course, changed in the sequels). Randy was killed in Scream 2, but returned in a recorded message in Scream 3 to share new rules. Scream 4 had Charlie Walker (Rory Culkin) and Robbie Mercer (Erik Knudsen) delivering the rules for this new story, and in Scream, Dewey will take that role – though what exactly the rules are this time remains unknown.

Richie, Sam and Dewey sitting on a couch together in Scream (2022)

Sam has made a big discovery: the new Ghostface is targeting people related to previous Scream killers. The Scream movie franchise has seen seven killers: Billy Loomis, Stu Macher, Mrs. Loomis, Mickey Altieri, Roman Bridger, Jill Roberts, and Charlie Walker. Sidney is connected to most of them one way or another – Billy was her boyfriend, Roman turned out to be her half-brother, and Jill was her cousin – but it’s to be seen how the new characters are related to them, and especially if some of them turn out to be directly related to the Loomis family.

7. Dewey Goes On The Hunt For Ghostface

Dewey on the hunt in a hospital in Scream 2022

Dewey isn’t exactly the most skilled character in the Scream film series, but he has been of great help through the different murder sprees in Woodsboro. Dewey seems very different from previous appearances: he looks tired, but at the same time he seems to be more motivated than ever to end with Ghostface. The Scream trailer shows Dewey going hunting for Ghostface at a hospital, and he’s carrying a gun with him as he, just like Sidney, now knows very well that the only way to stop the killer is with a bullet to the head.

Related: How Skeet Ulrich's Billy Loomis Might Return In Scream 2022

6. Marley Shelton’s Judy Hicks Is Back

Judy Hicks in scream 2022

Deputy Judy Hicks is back in Scream. Hicks was introduced in Scream 4, where it was revealed that she’s a former classmate of Sidney, but the latter didn’t remember her. Hicks was very close to Dewey as they worked together, which brought some tension between her and Gale, but ultimately, Hicks saved Gale’s life at the hospital when Jill was about to shoot her. Hicks actually got shot by Jill and was presumed dead, but she was wearing a bulletproof vest, so she survived. As mentioned above, Dylan Minnette’s character seems to be related to her (whether her son, nephew, or some other link between them), and this scene with her screaming while rushing through the streets of Woodsboro in a police car could either be her on her way to help the rest or her processing some terrible news.

5. Gale Screaming - Has Dewey Been Killed?

Scream 2022 Gale screaming

Towards the end of the trailer, there are some quick shots of Ghostface’s attacks and the three main protagonists fighting them, and there’s one very quick shot of Gale screaming and being held back by someone, possibly Sidney. Seconds before, Dewey is seen fighting Ghostface, and as an ambulance is seen behind Gale, could this be hinting at Dewey’s death, and this is the moment when Gale finds out?

4. Multiple Ghostface Attacks

Scream 2022 Ghostface multiple attacks

Gale screaming is part of a quick montage of Ghostface attacks, which includes most of the new cast as well as the original trio of survivors. It starts with Ghostface attacking Dewey at the hospital, and is followed by quick shots of Sam being haunted by the killer, Jack Quaid’s Richie being attacked, Dewey shooting Ghostface, the unidentified victim mentioned above, Sam about to stab the killer, Ghostface breaking someone’s leg, and Tara in pain, screaming. These scenes show how brutal the killings will be and that no one will be safe from coming face to face with the killer, as he will follow them literally anywhere.

3. Ghostface Is Set On Fire (But It Doesn't Kill Him)

Scream 2022 Ghostface fire

One of the quick scenes in the aforementioned montage of Ghostface attacks shows someone being set on fire. This might be Ghostface, as whoever is watching (perhaps Sidney or Gale) isn’t doing anything to help. However, it’s important to remember that there have already been seven Ghostface killers, and those in Scream 4 took note of their flaws in order to make their murders almost “perfect”, so this could also be the case for the new Ghostface, and they could be prepared for anything, including being set on fire. And, of course, it’s unlikely the trailer would show exactly how Ghostface is defeated, even if briefly.

Related: How Stu Can Return And Be Reformed In Scream 5

2. Sidney Returns To Stu’s House (But Why?)

Scream 2022 Sidney Stu house

One of the biggest surprises in the Scream trailer is Sidney returning to Stu’s house, the place where Sidney learned the truth about Ghostface, Billy, Stu, and her mother’s murder in the first movie. Stu’s house was also the place where Tatum was killed, Randy was attacked, and where Sidney finally killed both Billy and Stu. As the new Ghostface killer is going after those linked to the previous killers, it’s only fitting that Sidney will be lured into Stu’s old house for her encounter with the killer – and, of course, it also appeals to nostalgia, which seems to be a big theme in this new movie.

1. Ghostface vs. Sidney Prescott

Sidney looks for Ghostface in Scream 2022

Of course, there has to be a Ghostface vs Sidney Prescott moment in Scream, and the trailer made sure to include a brief look at it. Like every other character in the Scream universe, the new Ghostface is well aware of Sidney’s “celebrity” status in Woodsboro, and given that they are going after those linked to previous killers, Sidney is, once more, the ultimate target. Ghostface says “it’s an honor” to meet her, and she points at them with her gun as the killer raises their bloody knife. Given all that Sidney has been through, this encounter between Ghostface and Sidney in Scream will surely be an exciting one, and it will most likely be the moment where the identity of the killer(s) will be revealed.

Next: Why Scream 2022 Isn't Scream 5 (Is It A Reboot?)

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