Why Melissa Barrera and Jenna Ortega make Neve Campbell forget in ‘Scream VI’?

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Now that we can finally attend the blood feast that is ‘Scream VI’, courtesy of Radio Silence, it’s time to count: Courteney Cox? check. Melissa Barrera? check. Jenna Ortega? check. Neve Campbell?… Hello?…

Neve Campbell iswith permission of Jamie Lee Curtis, the scream queen or scream queen of an entire generation, the one that grew up in the 90s with the success of ‘Scream’ and its two sequels, ‘Scream 2’ (1997) and ‘Scream 3’ (2000). Years later, Campbell would repeat in ‘Scream 4’ (2011). It was the most playful delivery of the saga with a kevin williamson unleashed, but it meant a vain attempt to revive the saga that did not succeed at the box office, despite the fact that for us it was up to the task, as reflected in the ranking of ‘Scream’ movies.

After more than a decade of absence and the death of Wes Craven, Ghostface would return in 2022 with ‘Screaming’ (2022) by the hand of Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett and I would do it with new faces, like those of Melissa Barrera (Sam Carpenter) Jack Quaid (Richie Kirsch) Jenna Ortega (Tara Carpenter) and Dylan Minette (Wes Hicks), but it would also mean the return of the wonder trio: david arquette (Dewey Riley) Courtney Cox (Gale Weathers) and Neve Campbell (Sidney Prescott), all back to Woodsboro because, as Mindy’s character (Jasmin Savoy Brown) would say, we were looking at “the ultimate fallback”a film that combined the reboot with a sequel.

‘Scream’ (2022) was ready to start something new, but was aware that it would have been difficult to hook the fans of the saga if they did without those survivors who were part of each of the previous installments.

The absence of Neve Campbell in ‘Scream 6’

Don’t expect any last-minute cameo surprises. Neve Campbell is not in the moviebeyond a couple of references by the characters of Gale, Sam and Tara.

In July 2022 it became official that Neve Campbell would not be in ‘Scream 6’. The reason is simple: “The offer that was presented to me did not match the value that I have brought to the franchise.” assured the interpreter. That is to say, her absence was due to the fact that the check that was offered to her did not have enough zeros.

His loss, to which is added that of the character of Dewey Riley (David Arquette), for obvious reasons, left us only with Courteney Cox as a direct link to Craven’s films and with the long-awaited return of Hayden Panettiere like Kirby Reed, which we could see in ‘Scream 4’.

Why Melissa Barrera and Jenna Ortega make Neve Campbell forget in ‘Scream 6’?

The first thing is to recognize that the self-conscious nature of the saga had already anticipated that the relay could happen whenever. Let’s remember that, in ‘Scream’ (2022), the character of Amber Freeman (Mickey Madison) yells at Gale Weathers a “It’s time to pass on the torch!”. Well that is what is happening.

In that fifth installmentDewey Riley (David Arquette) has a fatal encounter with Ghostface and Sidney Prescott and Gale’s characters are used in the last thirdlike two final girls from the manual.

Here, in the sixth installmentthere are several the meta references that point out that the characters of past deliveries are “expendable”. And, in part, so it is.

In line with our review of ‘Scream 6’, the answer to “why” the Carpenter sisters make it possible for us to forget what was the main character of the saga, is simple: Melissa Barrera and Jenna Ortega work perfectly on the dark streets of New York.

If the Jenna Ortega phenomenon was one of the best news of the previous installment and with her character she was one point above the rest of the cast (come on, the actress from ‘Wednesday’ is here to stay), in ‘Scream 6’ Barrera’s Sam Carpenther changes her attitude -more protective and in perfect balance between fragility and cold blood that Neve Campbell knew how to promote so well- and ends up exploding and acquiring an irresistible leading and vengeful role in constant struggle with his demons from the past, which invite him to succumb to the legacy of his real father, Billy Loomis, and which becomes one of the most attractive points of the plot.

It would not be fair not to distribute this merit without mentioning mindy (Jasmin Savoy Brown) and Chad Meeks-Martin (Mason Gooding) for a reason: The Core Four protagonists of ‘Scream VI’ are the best since the original film. In ‘Scream 5’ we got to know who they were, but this is where “the four main characters” begin to function as a real team, facing the threat of Ghostface. This necessary freshness in charge of this nucleus of characters has breathed new life in a saga that here gives us its wildest and funniest installment.

Does Neve Campbell’s absence mean we’ll never see her character again? Not necessarily, especially if a theory is true that a presumably dead character from ‘Scream’ could reappear in future sequels. In that case, and remembering all the ‘Scream’ killers who have hidden behind the Ghostface mask, there is only one figure who could face this villain again: Sidney Prescott.