How do Stu, Dewey, Roman and Mrs Loomis return in Scream 7?

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**Warning: Spoilers for Scream 7 ahead.**

Okay, so with Scream 7 coming up, everyone – me included! – was totally obsessing over one big mystery. How were characters who died in earlier movies suddenly showing up and going after Sidney Prescott? It just didn’t make sense, and we were all dying to know the explanation!

Fans of the Scream movies were thrilled – and a little surprised – to learn in January 2025 that Matthew Lillard and Scott Foley would be reprising their roles as killers Stu Macher and Roman Bridger, respectively.

Two months after that announcement, news came that Dewey Riley (played by David Arquette) would also be returning. Dewey, the lovable but clumsy detective who died in the 2022 film Scream, was surprisingly brought back for more.

I was so excited to hear Laurie Metcalf say she’d be up for returning to the Scream franchise! She played Nancy Loomis in Scream 2, and as Billy Loomis’s mom, it would be amazing to see her character back in a future movie. She told Entertainment Tonight she’s definitely open to it, and honestly, I’m keeping my fingers crossed!

It seems she was exceptionally good at keeping secrets. In the latest Scream movie, Scream 7, familiar villains like Stu, Roman, Mrs. Loomis, and Dewey returned to torment the two remaining original survivors, Sidney Prescott (Neve Campbell) and Gale Weathers (Courteney Cox).

So how exactly did it all work out, and how were they all involved? Here’s what you need to know.

How did Stu, Mrs Loomis, Roman and Dewey all return for Scream 7?

A popular fan theory suggests Stu Macher, a character from the original 1996 film, might have actually survived, even though he appeared to die after being stabbed, electrocuted, and hit by a falling television.

When viewers saw Stu video-call Sidney – looking much older and with severe burns on his face, outside her daughter Tatum’s school gym – it made some people wonder if the real story was finally being revealed.

However, the other deaths were much clearer and more conclusive. In the 2022 film Scream, Dewey was brutally stabbed in front of Sidney and his ex-wife, Gale. Similarly, both Mrs. Loomis and Roman were fatally shot after their identities as Ghostface were exposed.

In Scream 7, the returning characters weren’t actually alive. They were digital recreations made using AI deepfakes created by Marco, a hospital orderly Sidney and Gale had encountered before. He worked under the direction of Jessica Bowden, who was revealed to be the main Ghostface and Sidney’s seemingly friendly neighbor.

Okay, so the villains weren’t just going for scares – they were actively trying to mess with Sidney’s head. They created these incredibly realistic deepfakes, and Stu’s was used a lot, particularly in video calls to make it look like he was the Ghostface stalking her daughter, Tatum. It was a really twisted psychological game, and they even called Gale just to rub her nose in the fact that she’d lost her talk show. Seriously unsettling stuff!

As Sidney arrived home, ready to confront the killer with a gun, she saw Nancy, Roman, and Dewey on her television screen.

Nancy, Billy Loomis’s mother, tries to connect with Sidney by suggesting she understands the pain of losing a child. Then, Roman greets Sidney before pointing out their shared willingness to do anything for family, a comment that surprises her. Adding to the unsettling atmosphere, Dewey warns Sidney that everyone around her is in danger simply by being associated with her.

The big casting reveals turned out to be misleading. Although those actors did appear in the film, most only had brief, cameo appearances. Stu was the only one with a significant role in the main storyline.

Could Stu Macher actually still be alive?

Writer Kevin Williamson has confirmed that Stu Macher is definitely dead, despite intentionally fueling speculation and even filming an alternate ending where he survived.

The idea that Stu Macher actually survived the events of the first Scream movie mainly comes from an interview Matthew Lillard gave on The Bob Bendick Podcast in 2009. He explained that he was originally supposed to play Ghostface in Scream 3, bringing the story back to Woodsboro for a final showdown with Sidney at the high school after serving time in prison.

During an interview, Damian Lillard explained that just three weeks before filming was scheduled to begin, the Columbine High School shooting happened. This led to the movie being completely reworked – the original script was scrapped, he was released from his contract, and he ultimately didn’t appear in a third film.

Although the claim was later proven false by Williamson himself, some dedicated fans interpreted it as proof that Stu Macher had somehow lived. Knowing how to work with the show’s self-aware style, Williamson often acknowledged these fan theories within the storylines.

Later, when the Scream franchise was revived in 2022, these theories felt more solid thanks to what appeared to be supporting evidence. The movie even briefly mentions this through the character Mindy Meeks (played by Jasmin Savoy-Brown), who inherited her late uncle Randy’s passion for horror films.

People guessed everything from Stu secretly leading a group of followers who committed the murders for him, to him being seriously injured during the Woodsboro killings and kept out of sight in the hospital.

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Adding to the complexity, Billy Loomis, Stu’s accomplice in the first series of murders, played a major role in both Scream (2022) and Scream 6. It was revealed that he secretly fathered a daughter, Sam Carpenter (Melissa Barrera), and continued to torment her through frightening visions, leaving her worried she might inherit his violent tendencies.

The idea became so popular that, in an interview with Esquire after Scream 7 came out, writer Kevin Williamson shared that Mike Flanagan, the creator of The Haunting of Hill House, had repeatedly suggested Stu Macher had somehow survived.

He just wouldn’t stop talking about it, so I finally told him, ‘Look, Stu is gone, and the story won’t work if he’s suddenly alive. I don’t want to ruin the series with a ridiculous plot twist. I’m willing to take a small risk, but I won’t do something that drastic.’

He also revealed they filmed a different ending where Stu actually survived, as a possibility, instead of being just a creation of artificial intelligence.

“We shot a little coda at the end that we had in our back pocket,” he added. “But oddly enough, the decision was that the audience wanted him dead.”

Scream is available to watch in cinemas now.

Authors

Tilly PearceFreelance Writer

Tilly Pearce is a TV journalist who writes about a wide variety of shows, from reality dating programs like Love Is Blind to science fiction series like Fallout. She’s a highly qualified journalist, holding NCTJ Gold Standard accreditation, and has experience working as a deputy editor at both Digital Spy and Daily Express US.

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2026-03-04 21:36