Matthew Lillard Reportedly Set to Return for ‘Scream 7’

It has been claimed that Matthew Lillard, who played Stu Macher in the 1996 original ‘Scream’, will reprise his role in ‘Scream 7’. Stu and Billy Loomis, the boyfriend of Sidney Prescott, were exposed as the Ghostface murderers in the first movie, and Sidney eventually killed them both. But even though Stu seems to have died, there have been years of conjecture over his survival.
One of Stu’s most well-known quotes, “My mom and dad are gonna be so mad at me!” was written out in a mysterious Instagram video that Lillard recently shared, adding fire to the accusations. Reports that he would be returning for the next episode of the franchise arose shortly after. ‘Scream 7’ is presently slated for release in February 2026, while specifics regarding his participation are being kept under wraps.
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There has long been speculation that Stu might have survived even when Sidney crushed him behind a television in ‘Scream’. According to Lillard, Stu would have planned a new wave of high school murders from prison in an early draft of ‘Scream 3’. He got compensated for the role even though he didn’t appear in the movie, even though those plans were abandoned. He once used ‘Friday the 13th’ as an example to show that characters in horror series frequently return from the dead.
Stu’s appearance in the backdrop of a college party scene in ‘Scream 2’ further stoked fan beliefs about his survival. Kevin Williamson, the director of ‘Scream 7’ and the creator of ‘Scream’, subsequently explained that Lillard had only been to the set that evening and was not supposed to be in the scene. Williamson has maintained Stu’s death in the past.
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If Stu reappears, he won’t be the first legacy character to do so. In both ‘Scream 5’ and ‘Scream 6’, Billy Loomis made a reappearance as a vision, demonstrating the franchise’s willingness to creatively bring back previous characters.
‘Scream’ is still a major force in the horror genre, as seen by the fact that the movie was still praised for providing a lot of gory thrills.
–Farheen Ali