15 Things “Scream VI” Has In Common With “Scream 2” And 12 Ways They’re Totally Different

So many callbacks!

🚨🚨🚨This post contains spoilers for Scream VI and Scream 2🚨🚨🚨

Just as 2022's Scream included plenty of parallels to the original 1996 film, Scream VI features plenty of similarities with Scream 2.

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Of course, Scream VI is its own film, and there are a lot of differences between it and Scream 2.

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Here are some of the things the two sequels have in common and some of the things they don't:

1. The Opening Scene

SIMILARITY: There are two victims.

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The first kills in Scream 2 are Maureen (Jada Pinkett Smith) and Phil (Omar Epps).

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Laura (Samara Weaving) and Jason (Tony Revolori) are the first kills in Scream VI. (Jason's roommate Greg is technically also a victim, but he's already dead by the time we see his dismembered body crammed into a refrigerator.)

DIFFERENCE: The circumstances

While Maureen and Phil are killed at the movie theater during an opening weekend screening of Stab, Laura is killed in an alleyway by Ghostface wannabe Jason, who's killed shortly after in his apartment by the real Ghostface.

2. The Returning Characters

SIMILARITY: Not counting legacy characters, there are four survivors from the previous film helming both movies.

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Sidney (Neve Campbell), Randy (Jamie Kennedy), Dewey (David Arquette), and Gale (Courteney Cox) are all alive by the end of the original movie.

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The new generation of survivors consists of Tara (Jenna Ortega), Sam (Melissa Barrera), Mindy (Jasmin Savoy Brown), and Chad (Mason Gooding) — the latter of whom decides to christen them the "Core Four."

3. The Setting

SIMILARITY: Each film takes place outside of Woodsboro, at a college.

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In Scream 2, survivors Sidney and Randy attend the fictional Windsor College, where they're quickly joined by fellow survivors Dewey and Gale once the murders begin.

In Scream VI, Tara, Mindy, and Chad attend Blackmore University in New York City, where Sam and Gale are also living.

DIFFERENCE: They're in completely different cities.

While filming of Scream 2 took place near Atlanta, Georgia, at Agnes Scott College, the location of Windsor College is never technically revealed — but it's definitely not in NYC.

4. Film Studies

SIMILARITY: A Meeks attends a film class in each movie.

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In Scream 2, when we first see Randy, he's in a film theory class that's discussing the effect of cinema violence on real-world behavior and the merit of sequels. Laura, the woman killed at the beginning of Scream VI, is a film theory professor at Blackmore University, whose class Mindy mentions taking.

DIFFERENCE: We don't actually see anyone in class in Scream VI.

Which is a shame because I would have loved to have seen Mindy tear Jason apart in Laura's slasher class before the latter two were killed.

5. Greek Life

SIMILARITY: There's a Greek life party in each movie.

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In Scream 2, the sorority house Sidney's roommate Hallie (Elise Neal) is pledging throws a big party — during which Cici Cooper (Sarah Michelle Geller), down the street in her sorority house, is killed — and in Scream VI, we first see Tara as she's on her way to a frat party, where she's accompanied by Mindy, Chad, and Anika (Devyn Nekoda).

At one point, Tara is also asked if she's a member of Omega Beta Zeta, which is the same sorority Cici was part of.

6. The Copycat Theory

DIFFERENCE: There's no copycat theory in Scream VI.

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In Scream 2, the first three victims share names with the first three Woodsboro victims: Maureen Evans (as in Maureen Prescott), Phil Stevens (as in Steven Orth), and Casey "Cici" Cooper (as in Casey Becker). There are no such similarities in Scream VI.

7. Ghostface Goes Public

SIMILARITY: Ghostface isn't afraid to kill in a crowd.

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The opening of Scream 2 sees Ghostface butcher Maureen Evans in a packed movie theater full of hundreds of witnesses. 

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Meanwhile, not only does Ghostface go after Sam and Tara in a bodega full of customers in Scream VI (and kill the first bystander who tries to step up and do something, as well as the owner), but they also attack Mindy on a packed subway car.

DIFFERENCE: We see Ghostface fully in costume brandishing a gun.

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In the previous movies — including Scream 2 — every Ghostface has used a gun, but always after unmasking themselves. In Scream VI, Ghostface uses the bodega owner's shotgun while still masked.

8. Gale's Comeuppance

SIMILARITY: Yep, Gale gets punched again.

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Fans of the series know Gale was first punched in the original Scream after harassing Sidney outside the Woodsboro police station. In Scream 2, Gale pulls a similar stunt following a press conference at Windsor College, and while she can see Sidney go for round two and begins to step away, she still ends up getting backhanded.

In Scream VI, Gale ambushes Sam and Tara outside an NYC police station, and though she ducks when Sam attempts to hit her, she isn't so quick when Tara throws a punch.

9. The Rules

SIMILARITY: Both movies introduce a new set of rules.

As he did in 1996's Scream, Randy laid out a series of horror movie rules to abide by in Scream 2, and just as she did in 2022's Scream, Mindy followed in his footsteps once more in Scream VI.

DIFFERENCE: One is for a sequel, and one is for a franchise.

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According to Randy's sequel rules, "the body count is always bigger" and "the death scenes are always much more elaborate."

Mindy's franchise rules include that no one is safe — even legacy characters — and the killers will be the complete opposite of the ones from the previous movie.

10. Luring Ghostface

SIMILARITY: The gang attempts to find Ghostface in a park in both films.

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In Scream 2, Ghostface calls Gale's cellphone while she's in the park with Dewey and Randy, and the three of them decide to use the opportunity to track down the killer, but the plan fails and Randy ends up brutally murdered.

In Scream VI, Sam and the others try a similar ploy — this time with help from the FBI, courtesy of Kirby — and while no one gets dragged into a van and killed, Ghostface does take the opportunity to attack Gale.

11. Gale's Chase Scene

SIMILARITY: Both films feature a chase scene with Gale...

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In Scream 2, Ghostface chases Gale around Windsor's School of Film building.

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In Scream VI, Ghostface chases her around her apartment.

DIFFERENCE: ...But only one includes a phone call.

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Even though Ghostface calls Gale's cellphone in Scream 2, Randy is the one who answers before Gale can. Gale and Ghostface's call in Scream VI is the first time the two speak on the phone in the franchise.

12. The Kills

DIFFERENCE: Only new characters were killed off in Scream VI.

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To the disappointment of fans everywhere, Randy didn't survive Scream 2, later leading to theories that one of the Meeks twins would die in Scream VI. Both Mindy and Chad, along with the other returning characters — including Kirby Reed (Hayden Panettiere) — all lived to see another franchise entry.

13. Such Great Heights

SIMILARITY: Each film involves a death from falling.

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In Scream 2, Ghostface stabs Cici and then tosses her from the third story of her sorority house onto the concrete below. 

In Scream VI, Ghostface stabs Anika and shakes the ladder she's trying to escape on until she falls to the ground beneath Sam and Tara's apartment — her head slamming into a dumpster on the way down.

14. Never Trust the Love Interest

SIMILARITY: Both Sidney and Sam come to distrust their love interests.

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In Scream 2 — largely thanks to Mickey (Timothy Olyphant) — Sidney begins to wonder if Derek (Jerry O'Connell) is as trustworthy as he seems.

In Scream VI, Sam goes through the same thing with Danny (Josh Segarra).

DIFFERENCE: How they handle it

While Sidney doesn't outright tell Derek she has doubts about him, Sam doesn't pull any punches, flat out saying to Danny that she can't trust him and for him to hang back while she and the others face off with Ghostface — probably saving his life in the process.

15. The Ghostface Count

SIMILARITY: There are multiple Ghostfaces in both films...

DIFFERENCE: ...But there are more in Scream VI

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While there are two in Scream 2, there are a whopping three (for the first time in the franchise) in Scream VI.

DIFFERENCE: And we see more than one Ghostface at once for the first time.

Even though out of all six films, there's only one with a solo killer (as Kirby said, shoutout to Roman Bridger for his ambition in Scream 3), it's not until Scream VI that we see more than one Ghostface in costume onscreen at the same time. 

16. The Parent Trap

SIMILARITY: One of the killers is a parent of one of the previous movie's killers.

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In Scream 2, one of the killers is Billy Loomis's mother (operating under the pseudonym Debbie Salt and played by Laurie Metcalf), and in Scream VI, one of the killers is Detective Bailey (Dermot Mulroney), who turns out to be Richie's dad.

DIFFERENCE: It's a full-blown family affair in Scream VI.

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In Scream VI, Detective Bailey is joined by his kids, Richie's sister Quinn (Liana Liberato) and brother Ethan (Jack Champion).

17. Killer Classmate

SIMILARITY: Both films feature a killer who was in no way previously connected to Sidney, Sam, or any of the Ghostfaces who came before them.

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In Scream 2, Mickey is just a random serial killer Mrs. Loomis finds online, and though he dies almost immediately after, Jason — who's just a psychotic fanboy when you get down to it — still manages to get in a kill in Scream VI.

If you've seen Scream VI, let us know what you think about it in the comments!