Brendan Jesus
Out of all of the theories surrounding the Scream franchise, the one that has seemed most intriguing is whether or not Stu Macher (Matthew Lillard) is alive or not. Unfortunately, Kevin Williamson has stated Stu Macher is in fact dead. The latest teaser image for Scream VI has some fans asking if this is just another red herring from the franchise that thrives off of subversion. 5ream was bold enough to bring Billy Loomis (Skeet Ulrich) back through visions from Sam Carpenter-Loomis (Melissa Barrera), so what’s to say they can’t bring back Stu as a vision, at the very least?
The new teaser image for Scream VI charts the kill count for the previous five films, in a way that James A. Janise would be proud of. Set in the style of an MTA subway map, we get to see each film mapped out as a subway line. As someone who regularly frequents the New York subway system, this image really caught my eye. On the surface, the image is simple but provides fan service in a way I don’t think I have seen in a very long time.
Two of the big points to note in this image surround both Stu Macher and Kirby Reed (Hayden Panettiere). We can see the “stop” for Kirby Reed is not a white dot like the rest of them, rather it is a red circle with a white X through it and the words “case closed” next to it. We know that Kirby will be back in Scream VI, so this proves at the very least we should be taking this teaser at [ghost]face value. But the other big teaser is Stu’s dot. If you look very closely at Stu’s name, we do not see the same white dot as everyone else…rather we get a muted pink dot.
Now, this could easily be a photoshop error, or it could be on purpose. I find it difficult to believe this is a mistake. Whether or not Stu is alive, there is something behind this pink-hued dot. Is it the filmmakers having a laugh? Is this the filmmaker’s trying to tell us something? Honestly, the suspense is driving me bonkers. I want to believe that Stu is still alive, and the previously released image of Ghostface’s weathered mask also points to the idea that there is more to who this killer will be than we may realize. Thankfully we just have a few months until Scream VI releases so we will have all the answers very soon!
I personally loved 5ream, it even landed as #16 on my top horror of 2022 Letterboxd list, so I am beyond stoked for this film. If you want a bit more of a breakdown look at the first official trailer for Scream VI, our very own Megan Kenny did a great look at the first moving images released of the new film. Scream VI slashes its way into the Big Apple on March 10, 2023.
