WARNING! This article contains SPOILERS for Beetlejuice 2 (2024)!Though her absence was already expected, Beetlejuice Beetlejuice includes a subtle in-universe reason why Juno is missing from the sequel. Very few figures from the original 1988 Beetlejuice movie actually return in Beetlejuice 2’s cast, including Betelgeuse himself (Michael Keaton), Lydia Deetz (Winona Ryder), Delia Deetz (Catherine O’Hara), and Little Jane Butterfield (played by Amy Nuttall in the sequel). Therefore, the vast majority of original Beetlejuice characters don’t appear in the 2024 movie, such as the Deetzes’ iconic friend Otho and the Maitlands’ fan-favorite afterlife case worker Juno.

The absences of both Otho and Juno in Beetlejuice 2 make sense within the context of real-world developments. Juno’s actress Sylvia Sidney passed away in 1999, with Otho’s actor Glenn Shadix having passed away in 2010. However, with Juno being a ghost forced to spend eternity as a civil servant, her character realistically could have played a role in the sequel’s plot. Considering Charles Deetz’s ghost walks around headless in the afterlife, Beetlejuice 2 already found ways to work around the absence of original actors. Regardless, though Otho isn’t even mentioned, Beetlejuice 2 includes a clever reference to Juno’s fate.

Beetlejuice 2’s “Case Workers Strike” Article Explains Why Juno Is Missing

Betelgeuse Reads A Newspaper Article About Case Workers Being On Strike In Beetlejuice 2

In a subtle background detail, Beetlejuice 2 confirms that case workers are on strike during the events of the 2024 sequel. The responsibilities of case workers took on an important role in the original Beetlejuice movie, as the recently deceased couple Adam and Barbara Maitland (Alec Baldwin and Geena Davis) traveled to the Neitherworld to seek advice about ridding their house of the new Deetz family members. The ghosts were assigned to Juno as their case worker, who advised against recruiting Betelgeuse after revealing he was once her mischievous assistant.

The afterlife newspaper also reveals that there has been an ongoing problem of some deaths being incorrectly labeled as suicides. This explains why Beteleguse and Richard are working as civil servants in Beetlejuice 2 .

While Michael Keaton’s Betelgeuse is reading a newspaper in Beetlejuice 2, one article has a headline stating that the afterlife’s case workers are all on strike. This not only explains why Juno is absent from Beetlejuice 2’s story, but also justifies why the new ghosts Delia and Charles Deetz don’t confer with any other case workers upon their deaths. With Juno on strike, it also stands to reason that her missing colleagues from the original movie, such as the receptionist Miss Argentina, might be joining her.

The case worker strike in Tim Burton’s Beetlejuice Beetlejuice also hints at why certain ghosts who didn’t die by suicide are working as civil servants. In the 1988 horror-comedy, it was established that those who die by suicide become civil servants in the afterlife, with Beetlejuice then showing the Neitherworld’s employees with self-inflicted fatal wounds. However, Betelgeuse and Astrid’s dead father Richard both work in the afterlife’s bureaucracy despite one being poisoned and the other dying in a boating accident. With a lack of case workers due to the strike, Richard and Betelgeuse may have mistakenly been assigned as replacements.

Beetlejuice 2 Pays Homage To Juno’s Original Role With Wolf Jackson & The Police Force

Wolf Jackson & His Force Replace Juno & The Football Team

Juno herself may not be in the sequel, but Beetlejuice 2 still pays tribute to her role in the original movie. Wolf Jackson and the police force arguably serve as Beetlejuice 2’s replacements for Juno and the football players. Like Juno, Wolf provides a sense of authority in the afterlife’s bureaucracy, helping keep the dead’s chaos in check. Furthermore, while Juno was followed by a dead football team who briefly came to the real world in Beetlejuice’s 1988 ending, Wolf is joined by a team of dead policemen who come to the real world to stop Betelgeuse and Lydia’s wedding.

If Beetlejuice 3 ever happens with Tim Burton, the franchise could expand further by diving into yet another afterlife bureau, such as with politicians, newspaper journalists, or lawyers.

With the case workers on strike, Beetlejuice expands the afterlife’s worldbuilding by showcasing a different department in the Neitherworld bureaucracy. The idea that there was a police force in Beetlejuice wasn’t made clear, so Beetlejuice 2 introduces plenty of new gags by substituting the case workers’ office for the police department. If Beetlejuice 3 ever happens with Tim Burton, the franchise could expand further by diving into yet another afterlife bureau, such as with politicians, newspaper journalists, or lawyers.

Why Beetlejuice 2 Explains Away The Dead Original Characters’ Absences, But Not The Living

The Dead Characters’ Absences Make Less Sense After The 1988 Movie

There are nearly a dozen missing original characters in Beetlejuice 2, but the only ones whose absences are explained were already dead in the 1988 classic. Juno is missing because of the strike, while Adam and Barbara found a loophole and “moved on” from haunting the Winter River house. Meanwhile, the whereabouts of Otho, the Deetzes’ dinner guests, and Jane Butterfield aren’t addressed. Otho isn’t referenced in Beetlejuice 2, Maxie Dean is implied to attend Charles’ funeral but is never seen, and Jane Butterfield’s fate is left ambiguous as Little Jane Butterfield takes over Winter River’s real estate game.

Beetlejuice 2‘s Major Missing Original Characters

Character
Actor

Adam Maitland
Alec Baldwin

Barbara Maitland
Geena Davis

Juno
Sylvia Sidney

Otho
Glenn Shadix

Jane Butterfield
Annie McEnroe

Maxie Dean
Robert Goulet

Miss Argentina
Patrice Martinez

Bernard
Dick Cavett

It seems that Tim Burton felt more obligated to address the absences of the original dead characters due to the in-universe logic that they should realistically still be around. The dead characters are supposedly stuck exactly where they were in the original movie, so the Maitlands would logically still be in the Winter River attic while Juno would still be at the case worker office in Beetlejuice 2’s timeline. Therefore, it makes more sense to include an in-universe nod to why the Maitlands left and the case workers like Juno aren’t conferring with new ghosts.

Meanwhile, the living aren’t bound to those geographic constraints like Beetlejuice’s deceased characters. The absences of Beetlejuice’s living figures could be explained by any number of reasons; perhaps the characters died, stopped being friends or colleagues with the Deetz family, or simply couldn’t make it to Charles’ funeral. It would take far more precious time out of the movie before Beetlejuice 2’s ending to explain away Otho, Jane, and the dinner guests’ fates. On the other hand, a simple newspaper article and a brief line from Lydia take care of the dead characters’ conclusions in Beetlejuice Beetlejuice.