Five Nights At Freddy's Is Beating A $912 Million Horror Franchise To A 28-Year-Old Request

Summary Matthew Lillard returning for Five Nights At Freddy's 2 as William Afton beats his potential return in the Scream franchise.

Lillard's character in Five Nights At Freddy's allows for creative narrative possibilities, unlike the limitations in a Scream comeback.

Five Nights At Freddy's provides Lillard an exciting opportunity in the horror genre, diverging from his comedic roles.

Five Nights At Freddy’s 2 is expected to bring Matthew Lillard back to continue the story of villain William Afton, through which this horror franchise would be beating the decades-long request of another popular franchise. Matthew Lillard is known for his unique acting style and his comedic roles, but he has also become a beloved actor in the horror genre. Lillard’s acting career began in the horror genre in 1991 with Ghoulies III: Ghoulies Go To College, but he earned a place in horror history when he played one of the first Ghostface killers, Stu Macher, in Scream (1996).

Alongside his friend Billy Loomis (Skeet Ulrich), Stu triggered the Ghostface murders in the Scream saga, but just like Billy, he met his fate at the end of the movie. Following the success of Scream, Lillard has taken part in other horror movies, such as Thirteen Ghosts, and he recently made a triumphant return to the genre in Five Nights At Freddy’s. Given that he played a key character in the franchise, Lillard is expected to return in the sequel, which would be beating Scream and the decades-long fan request to bring Stu back.

Related 6 Five Nights At Freddy's 2 Theories That Would Explain William Afton's Return As Five Nights At Freddy's 2 gets closer to production, theories are mounting about how William Afton will be part of the upcoming movie.

Matthew Lillard Is Returning For Five Nights At Freddy's 2, But Not Scream

Five Nights At Freddy’s Is Matthew Lillard’s Newest Horror Franchise

Image by Yeider Chacon

Matthew Lillard played Steve Raglan, the man who hired Mike and who is later revealed to be William Afton, a serial killer who killed five children.

Five Nights At Freddy's follows Mike Schmidt (Josh Hutcherson), a troubled security guard who takes a job at the abandoned Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza. He quickly learns that some very sinister things happen in this supposedly innocent place, and the animatronic mascots come to life every night. Matthew Lillard played Steve Raglan, the man who hired Mike and who is later revealed to be William Afton, a serial killer who killed five children (including Mike’s brother) and hid their bodies inside the animatronics.

At the end of Five Nights At Freddy's, William was attacked by the animatronics and was severely wounded, but he was last seen being dragged away by these. William’s fate was left unknown, but if the sequel follows the video games’ lore, William should now be the animatronic Yellow Rabbit, making way for Lillard’s return. Lillard coming back in Five Nights At Freddy's 2 is beating his return as Stu in the Scream franchise, which might not even happen as Stu’s death was shown on screen, and with the saga now preparing for its seventh movie, it’s unlikely he will be revealed to be alive now.

2:15 Related Sorry, But Matthew Lillard Is Right About Stu's Scream 7 Return Matthew Lillard has opened up about Stu and the rumors of his survival, and he's right about Stu's place in the current Scream trilogy.

Five Nights At Freddy's 2 Is Better For Matthew Lillard Than A Scream Return

Scream Doesn’t Really Have Room For Stu Anymore

The world of Five Nights At Freddy's is quite rich and makes way for different ways in which Lillard’s William can return.

As popular as Scream’s Stu Macher has become in recent years, Lillard’s return in Five Nights At Freddy's is a lot better for him than a return to Scream. The world of Five Nights At Freddy's is quite rich and makes way for different ways in which Lillard’s William can return, no matter what his fate at the end of the first movie was – if he was killed, his ghost would now be taking over the Yellow Rabbit, and if he survived, he would surely want revenge against Mike and his own daughter, Vanessa, for exposing his crimes and destroying the pizzeria.

Scream, on the other hand, doesn’t really have a place for Stu anymore. As mentioned above, his death was shown on screen, and despite countless theories about his possible survival, it would be very hard to believe that Stu survived and returned for revenge over two decades later. If Matthew Lillard returned in Scream 7, it would most likely be in a cameo unrelated to Stu, as he did in Scream (2022) with a voice cameo. Five Nights At Freddy's can easily do what Scream can’t and in just two years, and it gives Matthew Lillard a new and exciting horror franchise.