WARNING! This article contains SPOILERS for Beetlejuice Beetlejuice!Screenwriter Alfred Gough revealed that Beetlejuice 2 was once going to feature cameos from two missing original characters, but the plan was scrapped ahead of the Tim Burton movie’s 2024 release. Surprisingly, Beetlejuice Beetlejuice doesn’t have any big cameos from original characters, with the big “cameo” appearance being Tim Burton’s frequent collaborator Danny DeVito as the afterlife janitor. Rather, every returning original character in Beetlejuice 2 is given a substantial role, with some missing figures simply being referenced conversationally in the sequel.

While the Deetz family members, Betelgeuse, and even Little Jane Butterfield return in Beetlejuice 2, the most glaring absences in the sequel are Alec Baldwin and Geena Davis’ Adam and Barbara Maitland, the 1988 movie’s main characters. The Maitland couple died in a tragic car accident in Beetlejuice’s opening sequence, becoming ghosts who sought to scare away the new Deetz family inhabiting their home. After the 36 year gap between movies, Adam and Barbara are entirely absent from the sequel for good reason, given the actors’ real-life aging. However, they nearly got brief cameo appearances before ultimately nixing the idea.

Adam & Barbara Were Originally Going To Cameo In Beetlejuice 2’s Ending – Why It Didn’t Happen

Tim Burton Decided Against The Maitlands’ Cameo In Beetlejuice 2’s Ending

According to screenwriter Alfred Gough, who also collaborated with Tim Burton on Netflix’s Wednesday show, there was once a version of Beetlejuice 2 that included cameos from Adam and Barbara. The writers revealed that they discussed with the director the possibility of Baldwin and Davis’ characters cameoing, but Tim Burton ultimately decided to reject any cameos by the Maitlands. Gough elaborated that one idea had the Maitlands “just show up at the end [of Beetlejuice 2],” but that the real-world aging of Baldwin and Davis complicated this cameo:

“ It’s funny with the Maitlands because we asked Tim, and we went back and forth. There was a version where they just showed up at the end, but the problem is they’re ghosts. So they kind of needed to look like they were 35, which was never going to happen. I think Tim felt, and Miles and I agreed, that their story had been told. So how do we move on from that?”

Instead of a cameo, the writers opted for a more brief conversational nod to the Maitlands, with Lydia explaining their absence by revealing that Barbara and Adam “moved on” after finding a loophole in the afterlife’s haunting rules. The script still includes a cheeky nod to the struggles of Beetlejuice 2 realistically explaining the Maitlands’ absences, as the original movie revealed that they were supposed to haunt the Winter River house for the first 125 years of their afterlife. When Astrid asks where the Maitlands went in Beetlejuice 2, Lydia vaguely mentions the loophole, with the teenager responding, “How convenient.”

It’s still unclear how a cameo with the Maitlands would have worked in Beetlejuice 2’s ending. One option could have been for the recently deceased Delia and Charles Deetz to encounter them in the afterlife, or perhaps the Maitlands could have been the afterlife ghosts who helped Lydia and Astrid escape back home instead of Richard. Perhaps Adam and Barbara would have paid the Deetz family a visit in the Winter River home after figuring out how to leave their 125-year sentence, similar to the “Jump in the Line” music number in the original Beetlejuice ending.

However, the problem remains that unless Alec Baldwin and Geena Davis were de-aged with CGI technology, it would be quite jarring to see the Maitlands, who died in their early 30s, suddenly appear to be in their 60s. With an estimated $100 million budget for Beetlejuice 2, that technology would have made for some very costly cameos, so the decision to leave out the 1988 movie’s ghosts was quite practical. As beloved as the Maitlands continue to be after Beetlejuice, Tim Burton made the right decision to leave them out of the sequel and place the focus on the Deetzes.

I Love Adam & Barbara, But Bringing Them Back For Cameos Would Have Been A Mistake

The Maitlands’ Story Is Already Over & Doesn’t Need To Be Rehashed

I’m inclined to agree with Tim Burton about the Maitlands having a cameo in Beetlejuice 2, even though I adore their characters. Burton is right: the Maitlands’ story was already told, and there’s little room to grow their characters without simply rehashing the original movie’s plot. It’s important to acknowledge how influential the Maitlands were on the Deetzes’ lives, especially when Adam and Barbara became surrogate parents to the teenage Lydia in Beetlejuice’s 1988 ending, but that was also 36 years ago.

Adam and Barbara had been haunting the attic for decades while the Deetzes left and lived their lives – the way forward for the two ghosts is to have their spirits move on to the Great Beyond, not to save Lydia and Astrid by going up against Betelgeuse again. I have to admit that bringing back the Maitlands for cameos simply would have been an act of fan service, a trap that the other numerous callbacks and references in Beetlejuice 2 largely avoided.

Not only would it have been fan service, but their cameos would have been distracting from the core familial story at the heart of the themes in Beetlejuice 2’s ending. The Maitlands having a cameo wouldn’t elevate the messages of Beetlejuice 2‘s resolution and the reconciliation between Lydia and Astrid. In reality, it likely would have done the opposite, as their cameos may have undermined the audiences’ focus on the resolution of the Deetzes’ familial conflicts and shared trauma from their experiences with Betelgeuse.

There’s no purpose in bringing them back for what would likely only be one minute in the final act just for… fans of the original Beetlejuice to point at the screen like Leonardo DiCaprio in that Once Upon a Time in Hollywood meme.

If Adam and Barbara appeared in Beetlejuice 2’s ending, they would have become the main talking point of the third act. Delia’s death, Astrid and Lydia’s reconciliation, and the dark reality of Lydia still being tormented by visions of Betelgeuse would be overlooked by the buzz about the Maitlands. There’s no purpose in bringing them back for what would likely only be one minute in the final act just for the couple to reunite with Lydia and for fans of the original Beetlejuice to point at the screen like Leonardo DiCaprio in that Once Upon a Time in Hollywood meme.

Adam and Barbara’s stories have been told and Beetlejuice 2’s focus is on the Deetzes. The sequel’s story makes it too difficult to juggle yet another subplot in order to bring in the Maitlands, and, frankly, Adam and Barbara’s legacies deserve more than just a fan-service cameo. If they can’t realistically be worked into the main plot, then it’s best to simply honor their memories in the sequel while moving forward into the deeper themes and conflicts of the Deetzes instead.

There Are Still Some Adam & Barbara Details In Beetlejuice 2 That I’m Disappointed In

Their Deeper Impact On Lydia’s Life Goes Unrecognized

Though I’m relieved that the two missing original Beetlejuice characters didn’t have a throwaway cameo, I’m still left a bit disappointed that certain aspects of their story weren’t addressed. Lydia reveals that the Maitlands’ ghosts “moved on,” but there’s no reference to how her relationship with the couple developed after the original movie, even though they seemed to be playing a more active role in raising her than Charles and Delia. Additionally, there’s no indication of how long the Maitlands have been out of the Winter River house – or what exactly the loophole is that allowed them to leave.