The 2020s brought back theScreamfranchise with renewed popularity, but the more recent sequels also have a major issue with their characters.The originalScreamin 1996was a game-changing slasher movie that reshaped the genre in the 1990s. Wes Craven oversaw the first four movies, but many thought the franchise ended with his death in 2015.
However, 2022’sScreamreturned to Woodsboro as well as the return of theiconic masked killer Ghostface. While some of the original cast members appeared, the focus was on a new group of characters. These young heroes provided a perfect new focus for the franchise, but they also had one major flaw that has harmedthe newScreammovies.
Scream’s Main Characters Have Too Much Plot Armor
The newScreammovies established thenew Core Four hero characters, made up of the Carpenter sisters, Sam (Melissa Barrera) and Tara (Jenna Ortega), and the Meeks-Martin twins, Mindy (Jasmin Savoy Brown) and Chad (Mason Gooding). With the help of the talented actors, these characters quickly endeared themselves to audiences while fearing for their safety.
However, by their second appearance in theScreamfranchise, it became clear that there was not much to fear. In shifting from the legacy characters, like Sidney (Neve Campbell) and Gale (Courtney Cox),theScreammovies seemed to become too reliant on these new characters and were afraid to lose any of them.
Despite the dangerous murderers stalking them, the four new main characters felt protected by those in power, not wanting to lose any of the pillars of their new franchise. Unfortunately, the movie also seemed too protective of the legacy characters, not wanting to seem like these new characters were taking their places.
Such plot armor is common for lead characters in major franchises, but it’s particularly damaging fortheScreammovies.If there are several main characters whom the audience knows are not going to be killed off, it really takes away from the tension. It also means that any new characters are most certainly soon-to-be victims or the killers.
The plot armor issue in 2022’sScreamwas not as apparent, as the audience was just getting to know these characters. However,Scream VImade it clear that these are the characters the movies are unwilling to kill off.Scream VIacknowledges the importance of the new main characters, even coining the name “the Core Four.”
However, instead of using that idea to subvert expectations and kill off some of the “Core Four,” the movie leans into the cliché and allows them to survive improbable scenarios.Chad is viciously stabbed multiple times inScream VIin what would have been one of themost brutal kills in theScreamfranchise, but he ended up living.
Mindy was also given a fake-out demise inScream VI,being stabbed by Ghostface in the subway, only to be inexplicably left to be saved by Ethan (Jack Champion). However, when Ethan is later revealed to be one of the killers, there is no explanation for why he didn’t finish off Mindy.
Even Gale, who plays a rather insignificant supporting role, isnearly killed by Ghostface, only to be saved by the young heroes at the last moment.It could be argued that it would have made more sense to kill off Gale at that point in the franchise, but these newScreammovies are hesitant to get rid of fan-favorite characters.
The Early Scream Movies Didn’t Have Plot Armor Issues
These newScreammovies have continued the legacy started by Wes Craven’s films, but those original entries never played it so safe. The first movie was so subversive with its storytelling that it really did feel like anyone could die. In fact, Drew Barrymore was thought to be a main character until she was killed off inScream’s opening scene.
Even in the sequel, when many of the surviving characters returned, there was still a sense of boldness.Randy (Jaime Kennedy) was one of the most popular characters in the original movie, but he was killed off less than halfway through the second installment. It was a way of establishing that no one is safe, and the sequels kept that alive.
Cotton Weary (Liev Schreiber) was made a key part of the mythology in the first two movies, only to be killed inScream 3’s opening scene.Scream 4is perhaps the best example of the franchise’s earlier boldness, as Craven brought in an ensemble of new characters to seemingly take over the franchise, only to kill most of them off.
Withthe upcomingScream 7including a mix of legacy characters and newer characters in theScreamuniverse, it will be interesting to see if it can do away with the plot armor and bring some tension back to these movies.
