Warning: This article contains spoilers for Thanksgiving (2023).
Thanksgiving stars Nell Verlaque and Rick Hoffman have shared their insight into which characters might return in Thanksgiving 2. 2023’s Thanksgiving was an expansion of the slasher parody trailer directed by Eli Roth and contributed to the Grindhouse double feature presentation in 2007. Verlaque plays Jessica, a young woman whose father Thomas (Hoffman) owns a store that was the site of a Black Friday massacre, prompting a killer dressed as Plymouth Colony governor John Carver to descend on the town the following year and exact bloody revenge.
GamesRadar+ recently spoke with Verlaque and Hoffman about the upcoming Thanksgiving 2, on which Roth and Thanksgiving screenwriter Jeff Rendell are currently in development. Verlaque confirmed that, to her knowledge, the plan is for the sequel to follow directly after the original movie with her involvement, saying, “I think [Eli Roth] wants to flesh out the characters a lot.” Hoffman chimed in, confirming he’s involved as far as he knows and saying, “It’s gonna be an interesting experience for sure.” Read their full quotes below:
Nell Verlaque: [Will Jessica return in Thanksgiving 2?] To my knowledge, yes. I think that it’ll be a continuation of where we last saw her. So we’ll see. But right now, I think so. When I’ve spoken to Eli about what he wants to do, I think he wants to flesh out the characters a lot – you know, these are traumatic events that happen to these people. And I think the reason the first one worked so well is [because] the relationships between everyone were very strong and you understood all of that. Rick Hoffman: Based on what I’m told, I’m involved – I don’t want to give anything away, but based on what I’m told by the director, it’s gonna be an interesting experience for sure.
Which Thanksgiving Characters Will Return for the Sequel?
One unusual element of the Thanksgiving movie is that, despite being a brutal slasher with many kills, quite a few characters survived the rampage of John Carver. In addition to Jessica and Thomas, this includes Jessica’s ex-boyfriend Bobby (Jalen Thomas Brooks), her current boyfriend Ryan (Milo Manheim), and her friends Scuba (Gabriel Davenport) and Gaby (Addison Rae). It was also implied that the killer, Sheriff Eric Newlon (Patrick Dempsey), survived to kill another day, as his remains were not discovered after the explosion that supposedly defeated him.
With so many characters left alive after the Thanksgiving ending, it’s possible that any and all of them could return for the sequel. As Verlaque hints, the sequel could explore her character overcoming her trauma about the events of the original movie. This would likely mean that several of these characters are still in her life, either helping or hurting these attempts, and are thus present to be on the chopping block during Carver’s next rampage.
Ultimately, it seems that the characters who return in Thanksgiving 2 will be dependent on the stars’ schedules. The movie, which is set for release in 2025, has a tight schedule that might not work with some of the returning performers’ other commitments. However, even if they don’t appear in the next movie, they could always return to survive or be slaughtered in a possible Thanksgiving 3 and beyond.
Thanksgiving 2
Thanksgiving 2 is the sequel to the 2023 holiday slasher film directed by Eli Roth. Roth will return to direct and pen the script for the new movie with his Jeff Rendell, expanding the storyline surrounding John Carver and his holiday-focused killing spree.
- Director
- Eli Roth
- Writers
- Eli Roth , Jeff Rendell
- Distributor(s)
- TriStar Pictures
