Warning: Spoilers ahead for Beetlejuice Beetlejuice!
Charles Debts died in Beetlejuice 2And the circumstances surrounding the character’s death serve as a constant reminder throughout the sequel, thanks to various gags. Jeffrey Jones played Charles in Tim Burton’s original entry in the franchise, which was released 36 years ago. It was Charles who moved the Deetz family to Winter River when the Maitland home became available after Adam and Barbara’s passing. After teasing Charles’ death in Beetlejuice 2s trailers, the release of the movie shed light on what happened to the character.
After the release of BeetlejuiceJeffrey Jones encountered legal issues arising from serious criminal offences. These events explain why Jones cannot return as Charles in Beetlejuice 2But the long-awaited sequel still needed to explain the absence of the character since the actor is not reprising his role. With so much controversy surrounding the actor in the years since his legal troubles, it makes sense why the movie took the direction. Of course, the details surrounding Charles’ death and what happens next are surprising.
The Beetlejuice 2 trailer first confirmed the death of Charles Deetz
The possibility of Jeffrey Jones’ return for the 2024 sequel was slim, but it was shocking to see the fate of Charles revealed so soon before the movie was released. Beetlejuice 2The first teaser confirms the death of Charles By including scenes of his funeral in Winter River. His family, including Delia, Lydia, and Astrid, are shown standing by his casket while a children’s choir performs Harry Belafonte’s “Day-O” song. Later, Lydia and Astrid have a conversation about the living and the dead, teasing what’s to come for the Deetz family, especially the youngest Deetz family member, who already has a complicated relationship with death after her father’s death.
Charles Deetz was killed by a shark in Beetlejuice 2
The shark attack happened after a plane crash
Before the funeral scene shown in the trailers, Beetlejuice 2 Thoroughly explained how Charles was killed. And when I say “excited,” I mean “presented by a stop-motion recreation of events in true Tim Burton fashion.” Not only is the character involved in a plane crash while over the South Pacific on his bird-watching trip, but Beetlejuice 2 reveals that Charles ends up killed by a shark attack while trying to join the other survivors on the floating wreck in the ocean. When Delia tells Lydia what happened, she hilariously takes a while to explain the cause of death.
After picking up Astrid from school, the family and Rory prepare for Charles’ funeral in Winter River. Besides the fitting performance of “Day-O,” the sequence shows Charles’ headstone, which is shaped like a shark’s fin. It also features a picture of Charles, as well as “Husband, Father, Bird Water,” all details that Delia certainly would have picked out for her beloved husband. The focus then shifts to the wake back in the house which is now completely draped in black cloth as part of Delia’s “Art of Sorrow” effort to channel grief into art.
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interesting, Charles is not the only one Beetlejuice 2 Character killed by a shark. While in the Netherworld waiting room, Charles sits next to a surfer who was bitten from the waist down. The original Beetlejuice Burton’s creativity with weird character deaths has already been shown, but the sequel takes it up a notch. Beetlejuice 2 Features Astrid’s father attacked by piranhas, a burnt Santa Claus, an elderly woman eaten by her cat, and a woman seemingly impaled by a javelin at the Olympics, to name a few. Of course, there is also Delia, who dies from two snake bites in the neck.
As Charles still appears in Beetlejuice 2
Charles is still present throughout the sequel
Charles Deetz may be dead in Beetlejuice 2But this does not completely prevent the character from appearing in the sequel. Besides the stop-motion recreation of the character’s tragic death, Charles appears in the afterlife realm with half of his body missing as a result of the shark attack. He is first (partially) seen entering the netherworld in confusion before later entering an afterlife three cleaners. Charles is a bit longer, wandering around, barely missing other characters and his own family until reuniting with Delia outside of the Soul Train in Beetlejuice 2It’s the end.
The afterlife depiction allows Charles to be somewhat present in the movie without requiring Jones’ direct involvement.
In addition to the stop-motion sequence, Jeffrey Jones’ image is used several times, such as on the headstone and in a portrait of the character in the wake. However, the afterlife depiction allows Charles to be somewhat present in the movie without requiring Jones’ direct involvement. While Charles can still speak, his presence in the afterlife only requires a body missing his head, meaning Beetlejuice 2 Found a loophole in having Charles return. Still, Jones did not come back to voice his 1988 character, but at the time of writing, there is no confirmation on who took over the role.