The Scream VI Super Bowl trailer promised a mix of old favorites and new surprises. One big change is Jenna Ortega’s plot to trap and kill Ghostface.
The new trailer for Scream VI was released during 2023’s Super Bowl, giving fans a look at a very different kind of Scream. Not only will this be the first Scream film not to bring back Neve Campbell, but it will also be the first to take place in a major metropolitan area like New York City. Most interestingly of all, the film looks like it will finally be flipping the script on its famous killer, as the trailer teased a plan by Jenna Ortega’s character, Tara, to trap and kill Ghostface.
Scream has always been one of the more inventive slasher franchises. Instead of the same killer being resurrected and coming back over and over, there is always somebody new under the Ghostface mask. Ghostface is also completely human, prone to making mistakes, and easier to ward off than killers like Jason Voorhees or Michael Meyers. That means Tara’s plot to kill the killer might just work.
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The Scream Series Is Always Reinventing Itself
As early as the first Scream, the movies in the series have always served as a commentary on the horror film genre. Scream featured characters pointing out horror movie tropes, and Scream 4 did the same but updated the trends to be more in line with newer movies. The fifth film dropped the number from its title as a meta-reference to the killers’ desire to essentially create a soft reboot of the Woodsboro killings. This has created a series that is constantly evolving, and based on the events shown in the trailer for Scream VI, the newest film will continue this trend.
Tara’s kill-the-killer plot in Scream VI seems like a great new way for the series to comment on horror films and the discourse surrounding them. Scream VI directors Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett could very well be commenting on the growing popularity of online videos discussing how to survive famous horror movies. Similar to how the Russo brothers wanted to make Captain America: The Winter Soldier immune to the Honest Trailer web series, Bettinelli-Olpin and Gillett might be trying to avoid a “how to survive” video. They may also just want to address the long-standing criticism that slasher movie characters often make terrible decisions that get them killed.
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Scream VI’s Trailer Features Several Meta Elements
One of the clearest meta elements of the new Scream VI trailer is a line delivered by Hayden Panettiere’s Kirby Reed proclaiming that the new killer “isn’t like any other Ghostface.” This is an easy way to tell the audience that they’re in for a new kind of Scream experience. Another possible reference is the scene where characters find a shrine to former Ghostface killers. This could be a meta-comment on how horror movie villains often become the most iconic character from a franchise. When the only consistent character across movies like Friday the 13th or A Nightmare on Elm Street is the killer, they become the character fans want to see more. In a way, slasher movies themselves almost become a shrine to their iconic killers.
Scream VI‘s meta elements promise that fans will be getting the kind of commentary that has always made the series stand out. In a way, that makes Scream VI a classic Scream experience, even if it introduces ideas that no previous film has covered before. It will also be interesting to see if Jenna Ortega and Melissa Barrera’s Carpenter sisters survive to return in a future installment, making them the new Gale and Sidney. One thing that is almost guaranteed from a new Scream movie is a big twist lurking beneath the Ghostface mask.
To see if they catch the newest Ghostface, Scream VI arrives in theaters on March 10.
