One OG cast member is glaringly absent from ‘Beetlejuice Beetlejuice’ and I’m sad about it
"There's a word for people in our situation: ghosts."
Geena Davis, who starred in Tim Burton’s 1988’s horror-comedy Beetlejuice, is doubling down on her claim that she will not be reprising her role for the upcoming reboot—but here’s why it actually makes perfect sense, despite how disappointing it is.
Beetlejuice Beetlejuice is gearing up for its theatrical release on September 6, with director Tim Burton returning to help guide the sequel alongside franchise vets Michael Keaton, Winona Ryder, and Catherine O’Hara. A-list newcomers from the likes of Jenna Ortega, Monica Bellucci, and Willem Dafoe will also round out the cast. Given it took a whopping 36 years for Warner Bros. to greenlight a followup to the spooky cult classic, it’s no wonder the studio is going all-out ahead of the Halloween season.
But even though a handful of Beetlejuice alums are returning for the sequel, you might notice that a few familiar faces are missing from the whole shebang—and for a pretty good reason, actually.
Why isn’t Geena Davis’ Barbara Maitland in ‘Beetlejuice Beetlejuice’?
For months now, Oscar-winning actress Geena Davis has insisted that she will not be reprising her role as Barbara, the ghost who haunts the home of the Deetz family in the original, in Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, despite speculation that she would make a cameo in the film alongside Alec Baldwin.
Back in April, Davis told Entertainment Tonight, “I’m not in the remake,” explaining, “Oh, you were expecting that I would be? Yeah, no, you know what? Because my theory is that ghosts don’t age … Not that I have.” She continued, “Our characters were stuck the way they looked when they died forever, so it’s been a while, it’s been a minute,” before revealing that she hadn’t actually seen the trailer yet.
Fair enough! As much as a Barbara Maitland cameo would’ve tapped into my love of ’80s nostalgia, Davis does make a good point here by noting that ghosts and ghouls don’t actually age in the Beetlejuice universe. Again, the original movie came out well over three decades ago, so unless the CGI and digital de-aging gods did their thing, Barbara and Adam’s appearances would required some mental gymnastics—not that Davis has aged a day since 1988, of course.
There’s always the off-chance that Geena Davis’ previous remarks could be a misdirect and that she’ll actually pop up in Beetlejuice Beetlejuice at some point, but I wouldn’t get my hopes up. There’s only one ghost with the most, babe. After all, this is a new story with new characters, and it can’t entirely rely on “member berries” and celeb cameos. But hey, never say never, right?
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