Summary

• The absence of Alec Baldwin and Geena Davis in Beetlejuice 2 raises key questions about Adam and Barbara's fate.
• The town model in the Maitlands' attic hints at how the sequel must address their disappearances from the Deetz house.
• Michael Keaton's return as Beetlejuice in Beetlejuice 2 suggests a connection to Lydia and the Deetz family's involvement in summoning him.

While Alec Baldwin and Geena Davis are missing from Beetlejuice’s ending and had another 125 years left in the home, the actors’ Beetlejuice 2 absence has raised some important questions.

So far, the only original cast confirmed to return for first Beetlejuice 2 trailer and images for Beetlejuice 2 feature a subtle nod to their characters from the original movie. Even if Baldwin and Davis don’t reprise their roles as Adam and Barbara, these teases mean Tim Burton’s 2024 horror-comedy has to acknowledge their fates in some form.

Beetlejuice 2's Attic & Town Model Tease Means The Sequel Can't Completely Ignore Adam & Barbara

The first look at Michael Keaton in Beetlejuice 2 sees him donning his iconic pinstripe suit and striking his infamous “It’s showtime” pose. However, more details revealed in the trailer reveal that Keaton’s Beetlejuice is back residing in Adam Maitland’s model of Winter River before he's shown making his real return in front of Lydia. The original Beetlejuice movie made a point that Adam had built the entire model that Keaton’s Beetlejuice would hang out in, with the deceased Maitland couple also locking themselves in the attic as their living space.

Consequently, the fact that the town model is still in the Maitland/Deetz attic and Beetlejuice 2 has a scene in this room means that it will be impossible for Tim Burton’s sequel to ignore Adam and Barbara’s absences. By entering their room and reviving their town model, Beetlejuice 2 has even more pressure to explain why Baldwin and Davis’ characters are missing from the Deetz house. This doesn’t mean that the Maitlands have to physically appear, but the sequel must give a reason why they were able to leave the house nearly a century earlier than Beetlejuice’s Handbook for the Recently Deceased declared they were stuck.

The fact that the town model is still in the attic and Beetlejuice 2 has a scene in this room means that it will be impossible for Tim Burton’s sequel to ignore Adam and Barbara’s absences.

How Beetlejuice 2 Could Explain Adam & Barbara's Absences

Plenty of rules for the dead were revealed in Beetlejuice, with one of them explaining that ghosts spend 125 years on Earth in the house they were inhabiting at their time of death. With Beetlejuice releasing in 1988, this means that Adam and Barbara would finally be able to move on from the house in the year 2113. However, it’s not clear whether the 125 years is calculated in Earth or afterlife time, as the time dilation is different for each.

If calculated in afterlife time, which moves at a much faster pace, then it is possible that Adam and Barbara could have already left the house after 36 years in Earth time. On the other hand, Adam and Barbara may have sought out some way to break the rule that they need to stay for 125 years, potentially finding a loophole in the Neitherworld. After a few decades being stuck in the attic, it’s highly likely that Adam and Barbara would want to leave the house to the Deetzes and move forward, possibly utilizing their time in the attic to cheat the afterlife’s rules.

Adam and Barbara may have sought out some way to break the rule that they need to stay for 125 years, potentially finding a loop hole in the Neitherworld.

The living Adam and Barbara were homebodies who opted for a vacation in their own attic instead of leaving town, so it’s not clear where the original Beetlejuice characters would go after finally being able to leave the house. With the seemingly boundless ability to leave the Winter River house and travel where they please, it’s possible that the deceased Maitlands would choose to leave town and haunt an abandoned home in an isolated area that they could have completely to themselves. Adam and Barbara could easily turn such a house into a quaint living space for their afterlife, while still allowing Winona Ryder’s adult Lydia to visit them.

Beetlejuice 2's Town Model Hints At How Michael Keaton's Character Can Return

In the original Beetlejuice movie, Michael Keaton’s titular character was able to return to Earth after being freed by Adam and Barbara, and subsequently, Lydia. He accomplished this by hiding out in the Maitlands’ town model, which Beetlejuice 2’s first images and trailer confirm is still in the attic. Keaton in Beetlejuice 2 also reveals that the door to the afterlife (with green fog included) is open in the attic, indicating that he returns to Earth either from the model itself or by entering the attic from the Neitherworld.

The trailer suggests that Lydia or another Deetz family member unintentionally summons him in Beetlejuice 2, explaining why Michael Keaton goes into the “showtime” pose when rising out of the model, which is what he did directly after being summoned by Lydia in the 1998 film. This suggests that for some time before Beetlejuice 2's story, he's been hiding out in the model waiting for one of the family to free him. Since he began hiding out by the Maitlands' graves in the model after their deaths, it seems a newly deceased Deetz family member will inspire his return to Adam and Barbara's model in the attic.