Scream 2022 Theory: This New Character Is The Killer

2022’s Scream reboot has no end of potential surprise killers, but one new character, in particular, stands out as a likely suspect for numerous reasons. Since the slasher series began in 1996, the Scream movies have been unique among their sub-genre. Not only was director Wes Craven’s teen hit one of the earliest mainstream self-referential horrors, but Scream was also a rare slasher that didn’t immediately reveal its killer.

In a trick borrowed from the Giallo sub-genre popular in the ‘70s, Scream kept viewers guessing as to the identity of its masked murderer throughout the movie’s tense runtime. While this was not unheard of (the original Friday the 13th had a surprise killer reveal, albeit a weak and unintentionally funny one), it did make the Scream series stand out among the slasher sub-genre’s offerings. At a time when franchises like Halloween, Nightmare On Elm Street, Child’s Play, Candyman, and even the aforementioned Friday the 13th were selling sequels based on their instantly recognizable villains, it was a risky choice to make the identity of Scream’s Ghostface an ever-changing mystery. Fortunately, the risk paid off for Craven and Scream scriptwriter Kevin Williamson when the movie became a huge hit and spawned a popular franchise.

Now, over a decade after Craven’s final movie, Scream 4, was released, the Scream series is back in cinemas. Scream’s 2022 reboot will bring back many familiar faces but will also introduce a slew of new characters, any of whom could be the face behind the iconic Ghostface mask. However, one of these new arrivals stands out as a more likely culprit than the rest due to their actor’s fame, their character name, and the fact that Scream 4 already used one potential twist ending. Dylan Minnette’s Wes has so far been seen as just one of the many new characters introduced in the fifth Scream installment, but could he be the killer? According to one fan theory, it is more likely than readers may think.

Wes Is Named After Scream’s Original Director

Few fans will have missed this homage but, for those who didn’t notice, Wes is named after the original director of the Scream series, horror legend Wes Craven. It is a fitting tribute to the horror icon who died in 2015, but both Craven and the franchise are also known for their shared dark sense of humor. Making Wes the killer (and thus, the character who directs the reboot’s action) would be an even more fitting tribute to Craven’s legendary prowess in the genre. Particularly when the enigmatic promotional materials have not made it clear which new characters are leads and which are supporting stars, making Wes the architect of this sequel’s murderous mayhem seems like an almost obvious way to pay tribute to his namesake, who carved a bloody, influential, and critically-acclaimed path through decades of horror cinema.

Scream 2022’s Biggest Potential Twist Has Been Done

While 2022’s Scream reboot features many returning characters, suspicion has mostly fallen on the new arrivals when it comes to potential killers. It is entirely possible that Dewey, Gale, or even Sidney herself could be the killer, but the most obvious surprise villain would be the new protagonist Sam Carpenter. Sam is seemingly being set up as the next generation’s final girl and a replacement for Sidney, meaning it would be a very Scream-appropriate subversion of expectations if she turned out to actually be the killer herself.

However, Scream 4 already featured a seemingly sweet apparent protagonist who was revealed to secretly be the killer, meaning this twist would be a retread. Thus a comparatively minor character like Wes is more likely to be the culprit. The 2022 Scream reboot could end the franchise’s Sidney focus by making a new protagonist its heroine, and making Wes the villain could help facilitate this. Casting suspicion on Sam and depicting her as a Jill Roberts-esque operator could help hide Wes’s intentions and pull suspicion away from the character. This is particularly important when Minnette’s casting alone is reason to think twice about his character.

Dylan Minnette’s Casting Is Suspicious

As the star of major movies like Goosebumps and Don’t Breathe, as well as 13 Reasons Why’s leading man, Minette has a higher profile than much of the movie’s cast. However, unlike Scream’s Drew Barrymore and Scream 2’s outsized stars Jada Pinkett Smith, this particular famous face is unlikely to be killed off in the opening scene. The promotional materials imply that Scream 2022 opens with Jenna Ortega’s character being chased by the killer and only show Minnette as part of a group of teenagers listening to news of the killings, meaning his character is likely to survive at least the opening scene. Outside of being the big name killed off before the title card, the next most likely reason for Minnette’s high profile casting could be that he plays a secretly pivotal role—like that of the Scream reboot’s villainous killer.

Why The Wes Killer Theory Might Be Wrong

While there is undeniably a lot of evidence in place for Wes to be Scream 2022’s killer, the use of a new character as the villain may leave the movie without sufficient connection to the original franchise’s returning stars. The sight of Stu Macher’s house in Scream‘s trailer implies that the 2022 reboot will be touching on the canon of the earlier movies. Since Wes has no obvious connection to the original series, he may be too obscure a figure to center the climactic killer reveal around. Furthermore, the fact that Wes is Judy Hicks’ son (the offbeat but ultimately harmless deputy seen in Scream 4) means that his mother was already a red herring in the last movie, and he could potentially be too obvious a villain as a result.

That said, since Judy seemed like a likely candidate for Scream 4’s killer until the movie’s climax, it is entirely possible that Wes’s status as her son is a double bluff designed to draw suspicion away from the character. New characters like Randy’s niece and nephew have a more concrete connection to the original movies, but Randy’s status as a beloved hero from the first two Scream movies means many fans would find the revelation that his relatives were remorseless murderers to be a betrayal of the character. In contrast, Dylan Minnette’s Wes is connected only to a minor Scream 4 character, and therefore remains relatively likely to be the villainous killer of Scream’s 2022 reboot.