Over the course of Wes Craven’s ever-popular Scream franchise, the engaging whodunnit entries have notably called out traditional tropes and tiresome clichés which have long plagued the horror genre since its initial birth. Stripped down, the slasher films juxtaposes meta-y humor and genuine terror to craft an intriguing piece of cinema which garners viewers of all ages. In the past, the majority of these films have given credence to the audience when it comes to either the true identity of the masked perpetrator or the fate of its most beloved characters.
Flash forward to now, and Scream VI perfectly tested this theory in a particular scene with the updated franchise’s core characters, which was led by fan-favorite Mindy Meeks-Martin (Jasmin Savoy Brown). During her speech to the rest of the group, Mindy insists that OG icons are brought back in legacy sequels for the sole purpose of being killed off. Mindy proceeded to back up this claim by listing a series of memorable final girls — all the way from Halloween’s Laurie Strode to Texas Chainsaw Massacre’s Sally Hardesty.
In doing so, Scream VI might have inadvertently hinted at a major spoiler in regards to David Gordon Green’s The Exorcist sequel. Seeing as Mindy’s speech relates to franchise’s bringing back legacy characters in an attempt to kill them off, this now seems incredibly likely for Green’s much-anticipated sequel — which has recently added both Ellen Burstyn and Linda Blair to the cast. Ellen, of course, portrayed Chris MacNeil in the ‘73 original while Blair portrayed 12-year-old Regan MacNeil.
That being said, the franchise bringing back Burstyn and Blair might have presented the perfect opportunity for both characters to be killed off during a battle with Pazuzu — the demon that initially possessed Regan when she was a child (and who even gets a nod in Scream VI). Considering Blair is well into her 60s and Burstyn is currently 90-years-old, it would make perfect sense to allow the two characters to ride off into the sunset. Of course, all of this is speculation at this point in time, but the specific dialogue in Scream’s latest chapter surely makes you think.
The Exorcist sequel is set to begin haunting theaters starting Oct. 13.
