The following contains spoilers for Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, now playing in theaters.

Beetlejuice Beetlejuice was an ambitious movie from the start. Following up the beloved cult classic over 35 years after its initial release was always going to take equal parts skill and care. This long-awaited sequel took several risks by introducing new characters and leaving some fan favorites, like the Maitlands, in the past. However, one of the biggest challenges Beetlejuice Beetlejuice tackled was including not one, but three main antagonists.

This movie trend rarely works well. It’s not outlandish to have one main antagonist and a secondary antagonist that either works for the main or offers a subplot. When more than two villains come into the folds, though, the story usually becomes muddled as each antagonist attempts to fight for screen time. Amazingly, the Beetlejuice sequel handled this usually problematic trend with ease.

Beetlejuice Beetlejuice’s Villains, Explained

As mentioned, Beetlejuice Beetlejuice features three main villains, not including the Ghost with the Most. These three villains include Delores, Betelgeuse’s first wife, Jeremy, a misleading teenage boy from Lydia’s hometown, and Rory, Lydia’s boyfriend/fiancé.

Delores was a Cult Leader in Life

Delores, played by Monica Bellucci, is the first antagonist to appear on-screen in Beetlejuice Beetlejuice. Her introduction was amazing. Delores’ ghostly form is in pieces and stored in multiple boxes. Delores rebuilds her body by stapling each piece into its proper place. Soon after, she finds a custodian and demands to know where Betelgeuse is. When the man doesn’t give her the answers she wants, she picks him up and sucks his soul out of his body, leaving a shriveled husk behind.

Later, after Betelgeuse learns that Delores is back and looking for him, he explains his relationship with her. Before Betelgeuse died, he met Delores, a beautiful, mysterious woman who ran a cult. Since they both loved chaos, Betelgeuse fell for her faster than he could have imagined. They were married and on their wedding night, Delores poisoned him. Delores believed that if she murdered her husband and consumed his soul, she would gain immortality. This is where Delores’ soul-sucking abilities likely stem from in the Afterlife.

Before Betelgeuse died from the poison, he retaliated and attacked her with an axe. He managed to chop her up into several pieces, ensuring that she couldn’t suck his soul out to finish her immortality ritual. This explains why Delores is in pieces in the Afterlife and has to rebuild herself. Long story short, Betelgeuse and Delores killed one another on their wedding night. Betelgeuse ruining Delores’ plans sets her on a revenge streak across the Afterlife, searching for her former husband.

Jeremy Seems Too Perfect for Astrid

After Lydia agrees to marry Rory at her father’s funeral, Lydia’s daughter, Astrid, gets on her bike and rides into town. Distraught, she nearly collides with several vehicles and loses control of her bike. She smashes through a wooden fence and right into Jeremy’s backyard. Jeremy (Arthur Conti), a teenager around Astrid’s age, is reading in a tree house. Astrid crashing into the tree catches his attention, and the pair become fast friends.

Astrid feels like she’s finally met someone she can be herself with and Jeremy is eager to develop their relationship. Jeremy invites Astrid back for Halloween, where she briefly gets a look at Jeremy’s struggling parents before going up to Jeremy’s room. What Astrid doesn’t know is that Jeremy is a ghost who has been haunting the property for years. Not only is he a spirit, but he’s also a murderer who killed his parents. He died shortly after their murders when he fell from his tree house and broke his neck.

Astrid is the first person Jeremy’s met since his death who can see him. Just like Lydia, Astrid can see and communicate with the dead. Jeremy decides to take advantage of Astrid by tricking her into agreeing to exchange her soul for his. She will be trapped in the Afterlife, and he will be able to re-enter the living world. Jeremy nearly succeeds in his plan, too. If Lydia hadn’t come to save her daughter, Astrid’s life would have been gone forever.

Rory is a Gold Digger

From the moment the audience meets Rory, they know something must be wrong with him. Rory is Lydia’s “attentive” boyfriend. He’s involved with everything Lydia does, including her incredibly successful television series, Ghost House. Rory tries to paint himself as the perfect boyfriend, but all he does while he’s with Lydia is gaslight her into doing what he wants. He even manages to guilt her into agreeing to marry him at her father’s funeral, even though she’s uncomfortable with the idea.

Astrid, Lydia’s daughter, and Delia, Lydia’s stepmother, both openly dislike Rory. Neither of them approves of Rory, and they don’t understand what Lydia sees in him. Lydia defends him by repeatedly saying Rory loves her and that’s enough, but Astrid and Delia don’t trust his intentions.

Unfortunately for Lydia, Astrid and Delia are right about Rory. Rory is desperate to marry Lydia because he wants to ride the coattails of her success. He knew that he would get so much more from her fortune as her husband than he ever would as her manager, so he locked her down in a one-sided relationship.

All Three Villains Share One Thing in Common with the Ghost with the Most

Their Methods are Eerily Similar

In the original Beetlejuice, Betelgeuse becomes obsessed with Lydia Deetz. He sees this young woman as his ticket out of the Afterlife. She’s young and easy to manipulate, making her the perfect candidate for his plans. It’s not that Betelgeuse wants to hurt Lydia, but he does want to marry her because securing a marriage contract with her will earn him a one-way ticket to the living world. While his plans are temporarily thwarted, he attempts another marriage in Beetlejuice Beetlejuice.

Betelgeuse doesn’t care what he has to do to get what he wants. He manipulates the situation at every possible turn. When Astrid goes missing in the Afterlife, he forces Lydia to agree to marry him before he willingly helps save her daughter. During his wedding ceremony, he even uses his power to keep Lydia from speaking and speaks for her instead. In Lydia’s voice, he tries to force the marriage by saying:

“I’m Lydia Deetz, and I’m of sound mind. The man next to me is the one I want. You asked me, I’m answering. Yes, I love that man of mine.”

This is a quality all three antagonists in Beetlejuice Beetlejuice share with the titular character. Each uses the facade of romance to get what they want. It’s the easiest form of manipulation. Make someone believe that you love them so they let you get close. Delores did it to Betelgeuse when they were both still alive. He fell in love and married her, only to die on their wedding night. He might have been able to thwart her plans for gaining immortality, but he still lost his life.

Jeremy also plays on the idea of romance. When Astrid realizes that Jeremy is a ghost, he says that he wants them to be together, but for that to happen, he needs to come back to life. He tricks her into reciting an incantation she doesn’t understand that will trade her life for his. She does this because she genuinely believes that Jeremy wants to be with her, and she wants to help him. She has no idea that he’s a murderer who just wants to use her to gain his own freedom.

Rory also played into this form of manipulation. To give him credit, he was in it for the long con more than any of the others. Rory formed a real relationship with Lydia. He made her believe over an extended time that he was in love with her and that he could make her happy. He proposed to her and was at the church where they were meant to be married. Had Betelgeuse not intervened, Lydia very well might have married a man who would take her for everything she’s worth.

Beetlejuice Saves the Day

Despite His Many (Many) Flaws, He’s Useful

Betelgeuse might not be a good guy, but it’s hard to deny that he’s incredibly effective at what he does. In Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, Betelgeuse helps thwart two of the three villains plaguing the Deetz family. Sure, he does it because it’ll help further his own position, but he still delivers on everything he promises. When Lydia realizes that Astrid has been taken to the Afterlife by a murderous ghost, she calls Betelgeuse for help. Betelgeuse not only translates the text that Jeremy tricked Astrid into reading, but he also agrees to get Lydia into the Afterlife to save her daughter.

“I need you to help me save my daughter. But how do I know that you’re going to keep your word?”

Yes, Betelgeuse demands that Lydia marry him in exchange for his help, but you can’t blame a guy for trying to secure a better future for himself. Betelgeuse not only gets Lydia into the Afterlife, but he also helps actively foil Jeremy’s plans. When Jeremy is only steps away from solidifying Astrid’s life in exchange for his, he makes the mistake of handing his ticket over to Betelgeuse. Betelgeuse gives him a fake stamp of approval and sends him plummeting down into what looks like the fiery pits of Hell.

Betelgeuse doesn’t stop there, though. He also needs to get Rory out of the way if he wants to marry Lydia. He accomplishes this by crashing Lydia and Rory’s wedding and forcibly injecting Rory with a truth serum. Rory confesses that he was only ever in it for Lydia’s money, and he never believed she could see ghosts. Betelgeuse even provides a black and white striped boxing glove for Lydia to punch Rory’s lights out.

Beetlejuice 2 Accomplishes What Most Movies Can’t

Despite Beetlejuice Beetlejuice being packed with sinister characters, the movie manages to balance them incredibly well. This is largely thanks to how the antagonists are dispersed throughout the film. Delores is hunting down Betelgeuse. She doesn’t care about much more than getting revenge on the man who hacked her to pieces. Rory focuses on taking advantage of Lydia and Jeremy’s attention is on Astrid.

All three of these antagonists give Lydia, Astrid, and Betelgeuse some common ground and a reason to work together. Sure, Betelgeuse is also antagonistic in the way he wants to forcibly marry Lydia, but without him, Astrid would be long gone. Having three similar yet unique characters drive the main trio together worked beautifully without feeling too heavy-handed or overwhelming.