Beetlejuice Beetlejuice returns fans to the Netherworld for another hilariously chaotic adventure with Michael Keaton’s Betelgeuse, but not every character was lucky enough to come out of it alive (or just simply dead). In Tim Burton’s follow-up to his beloved 1988 cult classic, several characters find themselves in the dreaded Netherworld waiting room, with some leaving the room for good as they end the film being “truly dead.” Warning: This post contains Beetlejuice Beetlejuice spoilers.
Arriving in theaters on Sept. 6, Beetlejuice Beetlejuice returns to the sleepy town of Winter River, Connecticut. Picking up more than three decades after the events of Beetlejuice, the sequel brings three generations of Deetz women – Catherine O’Hara’s Delia Deetz, Winona Ryder’s Lydia Deetz, and Jenna Ortega’s Astrid Deetz – together following a death in the family. Back in Winter River, Lydia finds herself recruiting the help of Betelgeuse when her daughter finds herself unknowingly dabbling with the dead and the Netherworld.
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The film also stars Justin Theroux, Monica Bellucci, Arthur Conti, and Willem Dafoe. Keep scrolling to see which characters had a one-way ticket to the Netherworld in Beetlejuice Beetlejuice.
Charles Deetz
Alec Baldwin and Geena Davis were not the only ones not to return for the sequel. After starring as Deetz family patriarch Charles Deetz in the 1988 film, Jeffrey Jones did not reprise his role in the sequel. It is revealed early on in the movie that Charles tragically died while on a bird-watching trip in the South Pacific. As shown in a stop-motion recreation of the events that led to his death, Charles initially survived a plane crash when the left wing of the Pacific Travel Airlines plane fell off mid-flight, causing the aircraft to crash into the ocean. However, he died when a shark breached the surface of the ocean and bit off his entire top half while he was floating in the ocean.
His death served as the catalyst for the remainder of the film, bringing the family back to Winter River, where they once again encounter the Netherworld. Although Charles was dead in the film, his mangled bottom half was seen wandering through the Netherworld.
Delia Deetz
Unfortunately, an entire Deetz generation was erased in Beetlejuice 2. While attempting to pay tribute to her late husband with a unique art installation meant to follow in the footsteps of Egyptian royalty at his grave in Winter River, Delia is bit by two Egyptian Asps. Although she had been told by the exotic animal dealer she purchased them from that the asps were defanged, when she brought them out for her period of mourning, it turns out that they did, in fact, still have fangs.
Delia winds up in the Netherworld waiting room, and after wandering for a bit, she eventually reunites with Charles’ corpse. By the end of the movie, the couple is seen boarding the “Soul Train” to the Great Beyond (where spirits go when they are truly dead).
Delores
Monica Bellucci took on the role of one the most intriguing Beetlejuice 2 characters, Delores. Centuries ago, during the Black Plague era, Delores married Betelgeuse after first meeting him while he was robbing a grave. However, Delores was part of a soul-sucking cult, and she planned to make Betelgeuse her next victim. Although she poisoned him on their wedding night, Betelgeuse didn’t succumb to the poison before he was able to kill Delores with an ax. When a stroke of luck grants her a second chance in the afterlife, Delores sets out on a mission to exact revenge on her ex-husband.
After wandering the Netherworld in search of Betelgeuse – and sucking the souls of those she comes across, sentencing them to a “true death – Delores meets her own demise in the final minutes of the film. While interrupting Betelgeuse’s wedding to Lydia, the Deetz women band together for a final confrontation, drawing a door to allow a sandworm to enter the chapel and eat Delores.
Rory
Justin Theroux’s Rory was one of the all-new additions to the world of Beetlejuice. Introduced as Lydia’s love interest and the producer of her reality show Ghost House With Lydia Deetz, it’s revealed that he’s much more sinister than he initially lets off. His abrupt proposal and fast-tracked path to the alter with Lydia, it turns out, is nothing more than a scheme to get her money, and he pays for his evilness with his life when, just like Delores, he also gets swallowed by the sandworm.
The Janitor
Danny DeVito’s cameo appearance in Beetlejuice 2 as a janitor was short-lived. While cleaning the floors of the Netherworld, he had an unfortunate run-in with Delores, who sucked his soul from his body, giving him a “true death.”
Bob
Being a fan-favorite couldn’t save Bob from a grisly death. A zombie considered a “shrinker” who works at the Afterlife Call Center, where Betelgeuse is now the manager, Bob is killed amid Delores’ search for his boss. Just like with the janitor, Delores sucks Bob’s soul out, committing him to a final death.
Viewers can take some solace in the fact that the film paid tribute to Bob with an end credits “In Loving Memory” card, which revealed that Bob as born in 1372, meaning he was 652 when he died in the afterlife.
Jeremy
Introduced as one of the major villains in Beetlejuice 2, Arthur Conti’s Jeremy met a fitting end.
Fans first meet Jeremy by way of Astrid, who happens to stumble upon him hanging out in his treehouse after she crashes her bike. Astrid immediately hits it off with him, finding a connection in their shared quiet nature, and romance sparks, she later finds out that Jeremy is actually a ghost. It is only after Astrid recites a spell from the Handbook for the Recently Deceased and travels to the Netherworld with him that she learns the truth: Jeremy died when he broke his neck by slipping and falling from his treehouse, where he had been hiding from police after brutally murdering his parents.
Jeremy’s goal throughout the film is to swap lives with Astrid, committing her soul to the Great Beyond so that he can live as a human again. However, his plans are thwarted at the last-minute with a little help from Betelgeuse, who, recruited by Lydia, exorcises Jeremy straight to Hell.
