Is There Another Ghostface Killer Hiding in SCREAM VI?

Spoiler Alert

Scream VI delivers one of the biggest, bloodiest sequels in the franchise’s history, and sets the stage for more to come. However, after watching Ghostface take Manhattan, I left the film with one looming question. Is there another Ghostface killer hiding within Scream VI? After looking back on the events of the film, I believe Sam’s love interest, Danny Brackett, is not only secretly involved in the events of Scream VI, but will come full circle to be the primary killer of Scream 7

a ghostface with a weathered mask slices at an object in scream vi
Paramount Pictures

Why Danny Brackett Could Be the Fourth Ghostface Killer in Scream VI

Let’s begin at the ending and who we know is under the Ghostface mask. The family of Scream (2022) killer, Richie Kirsch, is the series’ first team of three Ghostfaces. They are Ethan and Quinn, Richie’s siblings, and his father, Detective Bailey. In the film’s climax, the survivors plan on locking themselves inside the abandoned movie theater/Ghostface shrine to trap the killer(s). However, before they go inside, Sam tells Danny to stay outside, not trusting him to join in the final fight. 

If Danny is a secret Ghostface, this decision is part of the reason he doesn’t get a big reveal. In fact, we could argue that him showing up at the end with the police is part of the Kirsch family’s plan to frame Sam as the killer. Perhaps when he arrives and it is clear that Sam and Tara won, he chooses to lay low and bide his time. After all, the Kirsch killers guilt doesn’t prove his innocence.

chad, tara, aneka, mindy, and sam stand in apartement in scream vi
Paramount Pictures

Outside of the Scream VI finale, there are other key pieces of evidence to support Danny being a secret Ghostface killer. First, there’s the events around Quinn’s “death” earlier in the film. Detective Bailey reveals that he was first on the crime scene, allowing him to swap her body and stage everything. However, it feels like Danny has an equally important role to play in selling her death to the Core Four and authorities. 

Danny is the only person who witnesses Quinn’s “murder,” even sending pictures to the group in order to alert them. And, him getting everyone (who didn’t die or escape) to cross over into his apartment through the windows works an essential part of the plan. This redirects the group from the crime scene, allowing Detective Bailey and Quinn time to stage the scene before the cops could arrive.

Ghostface on the subway in Scream 6 movie teaser trailer
Paramount Pictures

There’s also the subway scene. Danny makes a choice that splits Mindy and Ethan from the rest of the group, which Chad accuses him of intentionally doing. It’s never brought back up because the group moves into the climax at the theater; however, the events that play out suggest the accusation is accurate. With Ethan under extreme suspicion and Quinn already in her mask and waiting, the attack on Mindy in the second car appears to be a coordinated plan. This is able to happen because of the direct action by Danny to split up the group. 

There’s not as much potential evidence here, but Danny could have helped with the Ghostface attack on Gale. The physical capabilities of who is under the mask has never been consistent. But maybe Danny is the one who kills Gale’s boyfriend while Quinn toys with Gale on the phone. Maybe the killer on the phone didn’t lie when they said they’d left the building. Did Danny stay and try to finish the job before Sam and Tara’s arrival? It is possible.

How Danny Brackett Could Show Up in Scream 7 as a Killer

Danny and Sam holding a ladder at a window in scream vi is he a potential secret killer
Paramount Pictures

This leads to my final thought about this theory. So far, the “requel” Scream films mirror the original trilogy. Scream (2022) can be written off as following traditional requel tropes of echoing the first film. However, Scream VI seemingly establishes a pattern with its numerous parallels to Scream 2. Beyond the college campus setting, there are several significant comparisons to the 1997 sequel. The biggest one is the killers and their motivation: a family member of the previous film’s killer out for revenge. There’s even a Mickey stand-in with Toni Revolori’s character from the opening. He’s yet another film student with a superfluous motive who dies at the hands of a main Ghostface with personal motivations.

If Scream 7 continues this pattern, it means the next sequel will heavily mirror Scream 3. The Ghostface of that film, Roman, was a secret killer involved with the previous murders behind the scenes in a way that recontextualized the events of the entire series. Building Sam and Danny’s relationship in Scream 7 only to reveal him as a long game killer would be a perfect callback to Roman. This would hint at Danny Brackett’s potential involvement in the events of Scream VI as a killer. And, I predict that he could have a deeper connection to Sam’s past and the entire requel trilogy. We don’t know if there will be a Scream 7 yet. But if it does happen, let’s see if this theory comes true.

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