It’s now been confirmed thatJoel McHale will be playing Sidney’s husband, Mark, inScream 7, a role that was previously implied to be played by Patrick Dempsey’s same-named franchise character. With Neve Campbell reprising her role as the iconic final girl Sidney Prescott inScream 7’s cast, the franchise is returning to its focus on her family and never-ending battle with Ghosfaces. However, sinceCampbell was notably absent fromScream 6(2023) and had a smaller role inScream(2022), knowledge about her family in the reboot movies has only been revealed through brief references.
When Sidney Prescott returned after a decade-long gap betweenScream 4(2011) andScream(2022), it was revealed that she had since gotten married, had kids, and moved away from Woodsboro.InScream 6, Sidney’s husband was only referred to as “Mark,”with her kids still being unnamed. Even though there wasn’t any elaboration on Sidney’s husband, the fact that his name was “Mark” implied that she married Patrick Dempsey’sScream 3character Detective Mark Kincaid, who she seemed to be romantically involved with in the film’s ending. As such,Joel McHale being cast as Sidney’s husband inScream 7came as a big surprise.
Scream 7 Technically Didn’t Recast Patrick Dempsey With Joel McHale
Joel McHale Is Playing Mark Evans, Not Mark Kincaid
While Joel McHale is now playing Sidney’s husband, Mark, instead of Patrick Dempsey, who was speculated to return, the latter technically hasn’t been recast.Joel McHale is playing Mark Evans, while Patrick Dempsey played Mark Kincaid, so they aren’t the same person. But, that doesn’t make McHale’s casting any less complicated. It was heavilyimplied that Sidney’s husband was Mark Kincaid, and that notion wasn’t denied by the cast or filmmakers in the reboot movies, which unintentionally misled viewers. Plus, sinceScream(2022) andScream 6never explicitly called Sidney’s husband “Mark Kincaid,” McHale’s casting technically isn’t a retcon.
Scream 7’s Sidney Centered Plot Only Makes This Reboot Trilogy Change Worse
Scream 7 is confirmed to be centered on Sidney Prescott, and while that was expected, it makes one change in the reboot trilogy worse.
Part of the reason why McHale’s casting reveal is so confusing is thatPatrick Dempsey confirmed in October 2024 he was in negotiations to reprise his role(viaEW), which only would have made sense if Mark Kincaid really did marry Sidney. It now seems that Dempsey’s negotiations fell through, soScream 7had to backtrack and find someone else to play Sidney’s husband. Rather than recast Dempsey,Scream 7rolled with the fact that any “confirmation” of Kincaid being her husband was only behind-the-scenes – so McHale’s Mark could be a brand-new character without breaking canon.
How Sidney Not Being Married To Mark Kincaid Changes Expectations For Scream 7
Sidney’s Husband Potentially Being Ghostface Is Back On The Table
When it was assumed that Patrick Dempsey’s Mark Kincaid would be Sidney’s husband inScream 7, the expectations for that role were quite different.Dempsey’s possible casting weakened the idea that her husband could potentially turn out to be Ghostface, especially given Kincaid’s history withRoman’s Ghostface inScream 3and supporting Sidney off-screen through the subsequent attacks inScream(2022) andScream 6. He’s someone that Gale Weathers also knew and trusted from their shared traumas, but that isn’t the case for Joel McHale’s Mark Evans.
The returning characters confirmed forScream 7so far are Sidney Prescott, Gale Weathers, Chad Meeks-Martin, and Mindy Meeks-Martin.
Audiences now have no expectations about Joel McHale’sScream 7character other than what they can glean from the context of the actor’s performance style, reputation, and previous roles. Of course, foreveryScreammovie, thatmakes the suspicion around McHale’s Mark Evans potentially being Ghostface even greater. Without already knowing who Mark Evans is, how he originally met Sidney, and whether he has any other potential connections to past Ghostface massacres, he can’t be as easily written off as a killer suspect inScream 7as Mark Kincaid.
Scream 7
Cast
Scream 7 is the latest entry in the longstanding horror franchise, continuing the legacy with new chilling events.
Scream
Created by Kevin Williamson and originally helmed by Wes Craven, the Scream franchise takes a meta approach to the slasher horror franchise, centering on teenagers well-versed in the genre who find themselves hunted and killed by figures donning the Ghostface mask. The first four movies revolved around Neve Campbell’s Sydney Prescott as she frequently found herself the target of different Ghostface killers, while the fifth and sixth installments introduced new protagonists, sisters Tara and Sam, with their own dark past connected to the original Ghostface killer.
