Beetlejuice 2's cast of characters was notably missing two important people from the first movie.

The characters in question were Adam and Barbara Maitland, the two leads of 1988's Beetlejuice. While Beetlejuice 3's potential story remains to be seen, but it is clear from Burton's comments about Beetlejuice 2's story ideas that the Maitlands were never likely to be involved in the second installment.

Tim Burton's Early Plans For Beetlejuice 2 Explained

A Beetlejuice Sequel Has Been Planned For Decades

Given the popularity of Beetlejuice, the potentiality of a sequel has been raised since the 1980s. Burton himself itted to Entertainment Weekly that he came up with several concepts for a sequel to the popular film in the 80s and 90s. In the same interview, Burton outlined some of these original plans, from more vague, overall concepts to some potential locations that were going to be included in Beetlejuice 2. One of the more intriguing was the idea of setting Beetlejuice 2 in Hawaii, a stark contrast to the suitably Halloween-y vibes of the fictional Winter River, Connecticut.

Some of the broader concepts Burton had come up with linked somewhat to other popular franchises. One title Burton mentions is "Beetlejuice and the Haunted Mansion," likely riffing on Disney's popular Haunted Mansion theme park ride. Another Burton mentions is "Beetlejuice Goes West," again shifting the location of the original film. Despite these earlier ideas, Beetlejuice 2 remained in Winter River and connected more to the original film than these concepts seem to suggest it was going to, making the Maitlands' absence more peculiar.

Beetlejuice 2 Bringing Back The Maitlands Never Seemed Likely (Or Made Sense)

Burton Seemingly Never Planned For The Maitlands' Return

Although the Maitlands' absence in Beetlejuice Beetlejuice seems strange, Burton's early ideas imply this was always the plan. Having the sequel to the film be set away from Winter River would have removed the chance of the Maitlands appearing, as their spirits were confirmed to be tied to their house in the original movie. Of course, a loophole could have been written into the script to allow them to appear in the film - as it was to explain their absence in the sequel as it happened - but this does not change the fact that the filmmakers seemingly never intended to have the Maitlands return.

Moreover, in the aforementioned EW interview, Beetlejuice's director goes on to explain why he chose the Deetz family as Beetlejuice 2's lead characters. Burton mentions that he has always identified with the character of Lydia and loved the idea of exploring her into adulthood, as well as her connections with Delia and the new character of Astrid. With such a focus being placed on the Deetz family, it seems as though the Maitlands never had a look in. As it turns out, this made sense, given the story of the Maitlands was well concluded in the first Beetlejuice.

Beetlejuice Beetlejuice Was Right To Avoid Adam & Barbara

As alluded to, Beetlejuice 2 made the right choice to remove Adam and Barbara from the story. For one, their story was all but over after Beetlejuice. They resolved their issues with the Deetz family and managed to remove Betelgeuse from their lives, or afterlives. Beyond this, there was little story of worth that could have been provided for the Maitlands as, after all, they were dead.

Via the Deetz family though, more emotional storytelling could have been wrought, explaining why Burton chose this family as Beetlejuice 2's emotional core. As they were alive at the end of Beetlejuice, the future of the Deetz family could have been fleshed out, just like it was with Delia, Lydia, and Astrid in the sequel. Involving the Maitlands would have made it not only more difficult to craft an emotional story but also easier to detract from Beetlejuice 2's character arcs involving the Deetz women, proving the former’s absence to be the right choice in the end.