Many surviving characters of the franchise are returning for box office success of Scream 5 after its January 2022 debut – typically known as the industry’s “dump” month – quickly earned it a sequel, which will see Woodsboro’s survivors face off against Ghostface yet again.
Scream 5’s novel premise brought back a few notable legend characters while introducing new teens with a slew of familial connections to past survivors, victims, and Ghostfaces. Along with Scream’s iconic final girl Sidney Prescott (Neve Campbell), the returning legacy characters and actors for Scream 5 were Gale Weathers (Courteney Cox), Dewey Riley (David Arquette), Judy Hicks (Marley Shelton), Martha Meeks (Heather Matarazzo), and a de-aged Billy Loomis (Skeet Ulrich). Among the new Scream 5 teams, Sam Carpenter was related to Billy, Wes Hicks was related to Judy, and the Meeks-Martin twins were related to iconic character Randy Meeks, who died in Scream 2.
Just as expected with a Scream movie, most of the new characters were killed off by a two-person Ghostface tag-team, who was revealed to be Stab superfans Richie Kirsch and Amber Freeman. Scream 5 ended with the deaths of the two Ghostfaces, Wes, Judy, Liv McKenzie, and legacy character Dewey Riley. With Scream 6 already set to release in 2023, a few of the surviving legacy and newer characters have already been confirmed to return in the sequel, which will follow the survivors trying to start new lives after the previous mass murders (a familiar plot basis for the Scream movies). Surprisingly, Neve Campbell’s Sidney Prescott has yet to be confirmed for the Scream installment.
Gale Weathers (Courteney Cox)
Until Neve Campbell is new Scream 5 survivors recruiting her for help.
Kirby Reed (Hayden Panettiere)
Following her debut in 2011’s Scream 6 has confirmed the casting of Panettiere as Kirby Reed, which will finally show what she’s been up to since Charlie Walker stabbed her in 2011.
Sam Carpenter (Melissa Barrera)
Sam Carpenter takes over for Sidney Prescott as the main character in Scream (2022), which followed Sam returning to Woodsboro after her younger sister, Tara, was stabbed numerous times by a Ghostface killer. While Tara survived the attack, Sam discovered that her life was also in danger, as the killers were targeting those with connections to the original 1996 Ghostface killings conducted by Billy Loomis and Stu Macher. Sam then reveals that she’s actually the biological daughter of Billy, who she has hallucinatory conversations with throughout the movie. Following the reveal that her boyfriend Richie was one of the Ghostface killers, Scream 5’s ending saw Melissa Barrera’s character repeatedly stab him before heading off in an ambulance with Tara. Sam will inevitably still be trying to reconcile the meaning of her true parentage while dealing with the aftermath of her boyfriend trying to kill her, with Scream 6 likely following her new life outside of Woodsboro.
Tara Carpenter (Jenny Ortega)
While Tara Carpenter was teased as Scream 5’s first opening scene kill, the character miraculously survived the attack by Ghostface, who was later revealed to be her best friend Amber. Tara spent most of Scream 5 in the hospital, but returned for the action at the end of the movie to finally kill Amber and put this new string of Ghostface killings to an end. Jenny Ortega’s Scream character was last seen being transported to the hospital, but will perhaps either be living with Sam or going off to college when Scream 6 begins.
Mindy Meeks-Martin (Jasmin Savoy Brown)
The niece of Scream’s Randy Meeks, Mindy is the daughter of Martha Meeks and twin sister to Chad. Having inherited her uncle’s expertise on horror rules and trends, Mindy takes over the expert role in Scream’s franchise from Scream 4’s Kirby, though the two will likely be able to combine their knowledge in Scream 6 for whatever new Ghostface murder spree awaits. Mindy was stabbed by Ghostface at a party while watching the in-universe movie Stab, but was seen alive and being transported to the hospital at the end of Scream 5. When Scream 6 returns, Jasmin Savoy Brown’s character will no doubt be increasing her expertise on horror movie rules for whichever new Ghostfaces attack.
Chad Meeks-Martin (Mason Gooding)
While less educated on the rules of surviving a horror movie, Mindy’s twin brother Chad still has a healthy skepticism about entering situations that could end in being murdered. In Scream 5, Chad's character was a popular jock dating Liv, who he briefly suspected of being Ghostface before he was stabbed while trying to meet her outside of the party. Like his sister, Chad survived Scream 5 and was being sent to the hospital when the movie concluded. Since Scream 6 is being released just a year after its predecessor, it’s safe to say Mason Gooding's Chad will still be grieving the deaths of his friend Wes and girlfriend Liv in the movie.
