The reappearance of Matthew Lillard was a major draw for “Scream 7.” He reprised his role as Stu Macher. Courtesy of Paramount Pictures.

The Scream franchise, one of the most famous horror movie franchises in history, released “Scream 7” on Feb. 27. The movie trailers and interviews had made numerous hints of Stu Macher, an original character from the first “Scream” movie in 1996, returning in the 7th movie, causing excitement among fans. 

Matthew Lillard, the actor for Stu Macher, did multiple interviews in early 2026 before the movie was released, confirming his return in “Scream 7,” admitting he was “very excited and slightly terrified” to return to the franchise. With this information, “Scream” fans were thrilled to see the newest film to get a taste of the 1996 classic.

However, this was not the case; in fact, the movie twisted this idea of an original comeback into a modern nightmare. Instead of earning the return of a loved character within the fanbase, the new killers were simply using AI to trick their victims into believing that Stu Macher was alive. 

The AI twist felt lazy and was a massive let-down, especially to fans who watched it solely for the purpose of seeing Stu Macher. Being lured in by believing a vintage character was making an appearance for the first time in 30 years just to have it be an AI deepfake felt very unearned and seemed very clickbait-like. 

While the deception surely worked on many fans and was guaranteed to have proved its point on how AI can be extremely misleading, it used a poor approach and would have been way more successful if they had included Stu Macher in the end after making the audience think that he never survived. A plot twist within a plot twist would have been a great way to please the audience while also contributing to bringing negativity to AI.

The overall concept may be viewed as ironic. Whether the plot twist was intended or simply a result of laziness, it is disappointing to see such an amazing franchise be turned into such a joke. Being promised nostalgia only to be deceived by AI, something that already inconveniences modern day issues, is extremely upsetting. 

Ultimately, “Scream 7” was a good example of how harmful AI might be, but with the angle it took, it is bound to have a negative impact within the audience and its ratings.