Beetlejuice 2’s Winona Ryder Story Update Is Even More Exciting After Tim Burton’s Genius Horror Show Casting

New details about Winona Ryder’s part in Beetlejuice 2’s story make the sequel even more exciting, especially given Tim Burton’s casting for other roles. After rising back into the spotlight in 2016 with her leading role as Joyce Byers in Stranger Things, Winona Ryder continues to make her ‘80s-nostalgic supernatural horror comeback by reuniting with director Tim Burton. Though plot and character details have still largely been kept under wraps, Ryder is confirmed to reprise her role as Lydia Deetz in Burton’s 2024 horror comedy Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, the long-awaited sequel to her 1988 breakout movie, Beetlejuice.

While she was still a major part of the original movie, Lydia Deetz is seemingly taking over Adam and Barbara’s central roles for Beetlejuice 2. Jenna Ortega recently revealed some details about her Beetlejuice 2 character, Astrid, and role as the teen daughter of Ryder’s Lydia. Ortega stated, “The relationship between Lydia and Astrid is very important… I am a little bit against my mom’s history or past. We butt heads quite a bit.” In addition to making for a dramatic subplot, Lydia and Astrid’s bickering is apt to require a specific humorous tone and poise, which was also required for the casting of Burton’s Netflix horror series.

Tim Burton’s Reason For Casting Jenna Ortega In Wednesday Confirms She’ll Be Perfect As Lydia’s Daughter

With Lydia and Astrid arguing and seemingly repeating some of the antagonistic dynamic between Lydia and Delia in the original movie, Jenna Ortega was the perfect actor to cast for Beetlejuice 2’s new teen character. The casting criteria for Astrid seems to require the dark humor, wit, repartee, and awareness present in the original Beetlejuice movie with characters like Lydia, Delia, and Beetlejuice himself. Saving Burton another round of casting for his leading teen character, this also overlaps with part of the reason why Burton originally cast Ortega as Wednesday Addams in Netflix’s Wednesday.

When telling Vanity Fair the reason for her Wednesday casting, Ortega mentioned, “I don’t know if it was a dry sense of humor more than I had a lot of horror projects coming out,” though previously mentioned endearing moments of dark humor in her audition with Burton. Additionally, Burton has cited Ortega’s awareness and “clarity” as key to her Wednesday casting, which also applies to qualities needed to go toe-to-toe with legends like Michael Keaton and Winona Ryder in horror scenes. With Ortega already succeeding in these departments on Wednesday, Burton doesn’t have to worry about Astrid’s actor keeping up with Ryder and Beetlejuice 2’s returning cast.

Lydia & Astrid’s Relationship Being Key To The Story Fixes A Winona Ryder Mistake From Stranger Things

Lydia’s story in Beetlejuice 2 and the clever casting of horror star Jenna Ortega as her daughter makes Winona Ryder’s return all the more exciting. Ortega has teased how important their characters’ dynamic is to the sequel’s plot, which brings Ryder back to the center stage of a supernatural horror project. While Ryder was at the forefront of Stranger Things season 1, her character, Joyce Byers, became more equal among the main ensemble as the show went on. However, Beetlejuice 2 isn’t making this same mistake of sidelining Ryder, as she’ll likely have a bigger focus in the sequel than Michael Keaton and Jenna Ortega.

Source: Vanity Fair

Beetlejuice Beetlejuice

Beetlejuice Beetlejuice is the sequel to the original Tim Burton classic that starred Michael Keaton and Wynona Rider in a horror-comedy that involved ghosts trying to scare off new homebuyers from taking their house. The sequel brings back Michael Keaton as the hilarious and sleazy ghost with selfish intentions, now joined by Jenna Ortega in a new role.

Release Date

September 6, 2024

Distributor(s)

Warner Bros. Pictures