Scream 7: How Does Matthew Lillard’s Stu Come Back? (Fan Theories Officially Made Canon)

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Unlike most horror series, the Scream movies have always focused on the core group of characters who’ve been with the franchise since the start. That’s why Neve Campbell’s departure from Scream VI felt like such a big loss – she’d been in every sequel up until then, alongside Courteney Cox and David Arquette. While other series might have one returning character, Scream consistently brought back an entire cast for each new film. Scream VII took this even further by unexpectedly bringing some previously killed-off characters back to life. Be warned, the following contains spoilers for Scream VII.

The news that Matthew Lillard would reprise his role in Scream 7 excited fans. While Scream often brings back familiar faces, Lillard’s character, Stu Macher, seemingly died in the original film – crushed by a television. Despite this, fans speculated about his possible survival, and Scream 7 acknowledges this theory. Ultimately, Stu’s return turns out to be a false alarm.

Scream 7 Brings Back Dead Characters Exactly How You Think

The latest Ghostface killer in the film immediately tries to unnerve Sidney by making direct contact, rather than using typical threats. What starts as a frightening phone call quickly becomes a shocking video call, where the killer claims to be Stu Macher – the villain from the original movie, supposedly alive and seeking revenge. Throughout most of Scream 7, Matthew Lillard appears only on these video calls, and Sidney initially believes the calls are elaborate AI or deepfake attempts to scare her.

From the very beginning, Scream 7 directly addresses the popular fan theory that Stu Macher might still be alive. The movie opens with a true crime podcast mentioning it, and the initial victims quickly start discussing the possibility themselves. While Sidney Prescott initially dismisses the idea, she starts to question it after learning about a recently released patient from a mental institution who matches Stu’s description. However, Mindy Meeks-Martin points out that bringing Stu back would be a step too far, even for a franchise known for its twists.

Ultimately, Mindy is correct – it’s all too much. Stu Macher truly died in the first Scream movie, and his appearance in Scream 7 is simply a deepfake or AI creation used by the killers to terrorize Sidney. The real surprise isn’t that Stu is dead – Matthew Lillard’s return was predictable – but that he isn’t the only one returning as a digital recreation. The killers also use deepfakes of other past Ghostface villains, including Laurie Metcalf (as Nancy Loomis from Scream 2) and Scott Foley (as Roman Bridger from Scream 3). They even go a step further by bringing back David Arquette as Dewey Riley, but it’s not the real Dewey either.

Following the surprising return of Billy Loomis as a hallucination in Scream (2022), it seemed like anything was possible for the series. Ultimately, however, the return was revealed to be a clever deepfake. While there’s still a chance the series could find another way to bring back Matthew Lillard’s character in the future, this might conclude the reunions with cast members from the original film.

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2026-02-27 05:42