One of the biggest whodunnits of the year will no doubt be the upcoming horror movie Scream 7, which brings OG star Neve Campbell and OG screenwriter Kevin Williamson back into the fold in huge ways. The sequel’s first trailer showed off a slew of Ghostface action combined with new looks at Sydney Prescott’s current life in Indiana, and the latest Super Bowl ad played up a lot of the same sequences. And now I’m even more convinced that we’ve already been given clues about the killer twist.
Check out the new promo below and then join me in predicting how the 2026 movie release is already trying to pull the wool over audiences’ heads.
I’m Already Convinced Sydney’s Husband Mark Is The Killer
One major shake-up going into Scream 7 is Sydney’s married life, as her previous marriage Patrick Dempsey’s Mark is no more, as Dempsey was unable to join the production. He was replaced by Joel McHale, who will play a totally different character, but one who’s also named Mark. Perfectly normal stuff here.
Despite McHale being a popular actor (albeit more on TV than in movies), he hasn’t been core to the marketing for the sequel, and doesn’t get any dialogue-enhanced screentime in the previews we’ve seen thus far. But what we do see of him is obviously very major, as he appears to be one of Ghostface’s victims.
Mark works for the local PD, and as soon as we see him in uniform, he gets assaulted by Ghostface, who covers Mark with a bunch of plastic sheeting. The way the scene is edited, it looks like he’s all bloodied and unable to breathe beneath the plastic, with Ghostface appearing to deliver a killing blow. But why would this trailer already clue viewers in on such a major plot point like Sydney’s new husband being killed off by her biggest nightmare?
To throw everybody off-track, of course. If we see someone seemingly die in the trailer, then we go into the feature itself thinking that character is no longer in the running as a potential suspect. This is a Scream movie, though, so it’s never a guarantee that what we’re seeing is 100% authentic.
To me, Joel McHale appears to have been de-aged a little, but even if he hadn’t been, I think we could be looking at a slightly younger Mark here. One who was previously one of Ghostface’s victims, but not one who succumbed to his wounds. Instead, what if Mark survived that attempt and became something of a minion within the Cult of Ghostface, combining Richie and Amber’s toxic fandom vibes with all of Jigsaw’s acolytes in the Saw movies?
To reiterate, I think the promos are setting us up to think Joel McHale’s Mark will die, which I don’t think is actually the case, and he’ll end up being the killer in the end. Unless of course that’s not the case…
It Doesn’t Have To Be Joel McHale’s Mark Under The Mask
Considering it’s not entirely clear why Kevin Williamson chose to give Sydney’s current husband the same name as her other one, it’s worth the time to theorize that maybe this confusion factors in somehow. This theory also centers on the shots of Joel McHale, but with the idea that he actually does get attacked and does get killed off.
Who might want to do such a thing? Why, Sydney’s former husband, of course. It’s not entirely clear what happened there, but I could easily see this movie playing up the idea that Sydney and Patrick Dempsey’s Mark split up years ago for one reason or another, and that he’s back in her life with a vengeance.
From a scheduling perspective, Dempsey wouldn’t actually be needed on the set for more than a day or two, since the character would be in the Ghostface mask throughout anyway. He’d just be required for a five minute monologue near the end, and I don’t doubt that Kevin Williamson could make such a bonkers twist come together.
Or, you know, maybe Ghostface will be revealed as one or more completely different characters. I’ve been wrong before, and with all the returning actors like Matthew Lillard in the mix, this movie may have a back-half twist that no one could see coming without watching the first half.
Find out along with me and millions of other horror fans when Scream 7 hits theaters on February 27.
