I am as excited as any other huge fan of Beetlejuice to see the sequel Beetlejuice Beetlejuice hit the big screen later this year. Michael Keaton is back as the titular star, and is joined by returning castmates Winona Ryder and Catherine O’Hara.
I’m thrilled to see these three coming back to their iconic roles, but I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t a little hopeful to see Geena Davis and Alec Baldwin back as Adam and Barbara Maitland, the sweet couple who died in the car accident in the first film and were unable to leave their house as ghosts.
Though we hadn’t seen them on any cast lists or footage from the film, there hadn’t been official word on whether or not we might see them in the sequel.
Now, Davis is setting the record straight and confirming that her character (and most likely Baldwin’s), will not be returning.
Speaking with ET at CinemaCon last week, Davis said:
“No, I’m not. I’m not in the remake. Oh, you were expecting that I would be? Yeah, no, you know what? Because my theory is that ghosts don’t age… Not that I have. Our characters were stuck the way they looked when they died forever, so it’s been a while, it’s been a minute.”
It makes sense that they wouldn’t want to try to de-age these characters to rehash the old story. I’d like to think that Adam and Barbara got to hang out with Lydia (Ryder) for a while, then they found a way to get to the other side. This new story will see Lydia as an adult with a sullen teen daughter of her own, played by Jenna Ortega.
Beetlejuice Beetlejuice is set to be released on September 6, 2024.