Summary
Stu Macher fans have been on a rollercoaster ride for a while. AfterMatthew Lillard was unsure he would appear in the new movie, news broke thatLillard is reprising his role of Stu Macher inScream 7. Some might argue that Stu and his best friend Billy Loomis (Skeet Ulrich) were the two best Ghostface killers. They started it all and they were the perfect combination of silly and entertaining.
Lillard’s return is great news for those who always seek out newhorrormovies and can’t stop rewatching classic, older ones. However, horror fans are asking one question:is Stu actually alive?While sometimes characters can be brought back from the dead, could that really happen inScream 7?
How Could Stu Macher Be Alive In Scream 7?
Matthew Lillard has said in several interviews that hissilly and memorableScreamcharacter Stu Macherdidn’t die. In a 2021 interview withBloody Disgustingalongside co-star Skeet Ulrich, Lillard said:
“Yes! I’m alive! Stu is alive! You need to support me in this."
Lillard continued:
“I’m alive. And I want you to know something. We need to start a writing campaign. We need to petition this.”
Then, in 2024, according toDread Central,Lillard appeared onThe Drew Barrymore Showand said,“Listen, Stu is definitely alive.” But if that is the case,how could Stu possibly still be alive?For one thing, Sidney threw a TV at him, and he was electrocuted. For another,how canScream 7explain Stu being alive and well for the past few decades?As one fan wrote onReddit:
“My issue with this is, where has Stu been all this time? A coma? Does Sidney know he survived? If he’s been lucid all this time, why has it taken him so long to make his move?”
No matter how muchhorror fans love Matthew Lillard’s hilarious and goofy portrayal of Stu Macher, Sidney seemed to kill Stu, and there doesn’t seem to be a way to get around that. If Stu had died offscreen, then perhapsScream 7could pretend that never happened. But since audiences saw him get killed, it seems silly to suggest that wasn’t the case.NoScreamcharacter has come back from the dead. When Skeet Ulrich appeared inScream (2022), he was de-aged, which wasone of the worst thingsScreamhas ever done.
This Redditor also made a good point: how wouldSidney, one of the most celebrated final girls, not be aware of Stu being out in the world somewhere? She’s smart, resourceful, and has been hunted down by several Ghostfaces since the first movie. Nothing gets past Sidney. Also,wouldn’t Stu come back to find Sidney if he was still alive?He would want to honor his best friend Billy and finish what they started. After all, it was Billy’s idea.
If Stu was still alive inScreamcanon,wouldn’t he have appeared in another movie?Since both Stu and Roman Bridger (Scott Foley) are returning, it only seems logical thatSidney will hallucinate themor they will be in a flashback together. It would be truly shocking ifScream 7revealed that Stu was fine this whole time. It’s hard not to argue that it would distract from the rest of the movie.
Scream 6 Explained That Stu Macher Is Dead
InScream 6,beloved character Kirby Reed (Hayden Panettiere)and Mindy Meeks-Martin (Jasmin Savoy Brown)share a hilarious scene talking about their love and knowledge of horror movies. Kirby looks at the TV that Sidney Prescott once threw at Stu Macher and says, “The T.V. that killed Stu Macher.“Mindyreferences fan theories about Stuand says, “If you believe he’s dead.” Then, later on inScream 6, Kirby kills one ofthe movie’s three GhostfacesEthan Landry (Jack Champion) with a TV set and says, “Saw that in a scary movie once.”
If thisScream 6scene hadn’t happened, it would still seem like a long shot for Stu to still be alive. But since it did happen, there seems to beno possible way to ignore Stu’s death. Hopefully, Matthew Lillard’sScream 7appearance will make sense and make fans happy.
