Stu Macher (Matthew Lillard) is back! The announcement was made yesterday via Deadline— and Lillard’s Instagram—that he had been cast in Scream 7. Fans were still recovering from whiplash over the news that Roman (Scott Foley) from Scream 3 was also returning. If you’re confused as to how two characters who seemingly died in their respective movies are in the latest Scream sequel, join the club; pretty much everyone is wondering the same thing.
[Spoliers ahead]
Stu is an original character in the Scream universe and he supposedly died from injuries after being stabbed then electrocuted. Roman was killed with a gunshot to his frontal lobe.
Deadline didn’t go into detail about Lillard’s casting so it’s all left up to speculation, and if there’s anything fans are good at it’s speculation.
Some think both Stu and Roman will be part of a de-aging flashback. Perhaps Sidney is having hallucinations of Ghostfaces of Scream past much like Ebenezer Scrooge and his visiting specters in A Christmas Carol.
Others speculate that Stu is returning because Kevin Williamson, the creator of the first film, wanted him to return in Scream 3 but due to societal traumas at the time that arc was in bad taste.
Williamson returns to the franchise, directing the upcoming movie and perhaps Stu’s comeback is a recall to that scrapped storyline.
It should be noted that Scream 7 opens in early 2026, the 30th anniversary of the first film.
As for Roman who knows? Opinions range from Williamson doing a New Nightmare type meta gimmick to a complete series retcon. The former idea would be almost a perfect homage to the movie itself and its director Wes Craven. The latter probably isn’t the case since it would disrespect Craven’s work. Whatever it is fans are officially hyped.
Let us know what you think. How will Stu and Roman be integrated into Scream 7? Let us know in the comments.
