Joel McHale just confirmed a Scream 7 fan theory

If you follow horror films (or frankly, the whole modern soft reboot trend), you know the Scream franchise is notorious for its returning faces, random deaths, and fan theories that never quite die. Well, this week, we finally got proper confirmation on one of the longest-running bits of Scream trivia from none other than Joel McHale, in a story that’s as much about what didn’t happen as what did.

Wait, Wasn’t That Supposed to Be…?

Here’s the deal. Scream 7, which landed earlier this year, had loads of speculation over exactly who Sidney Prescott ended up marrying, since it was pretty heavily implied a while back that her husband 'Mark' was actually Mark Kincaid — yes, the same Detective Kincaid played by Patrick Dempsey in Scream 3. Major fans won’t need reminding: he disappeared from the franchise after 2000, but his name’s kept popping up, fuelling endless Reddit threads.

Joel McHale, invited onto the Inside of You podcast, just let the cat out of the bag. Apparently, the plan was to get Dempsey back in the fold for Scream 7 as Sidney’s other half. Dempsey was meant to reprise his Detective/now-husband role, tying up that two-decade-old loose end. Only, for reasons McHale still doesn’t entirely know—scheduling, money, or just bad luck—it never materialised. Instead, the ‘Mark’ role fell to McHale.

'Patrick Dempsey played the husband in the last one, and he was supposed to play this one. And I don’t know how it went down. I don’t know if it was schedule or money, I don’t know. Patrick, please forgive me if I’m f*****g this up.'

The story gets a bit more awkward when you hear McHale landed on set and found Dempsey’s name still on his character chair. Tried to nick the nameplate, naturally, but the crew weren’t having any of it.

The Wild Scream 7 Casting Saga (A Quick Breakdown)

• Patrick Dempsey: Supposed to come back as Mark Kincaid, Sidney’s husband. Didn't happen. McHale replaced him.
• Melissa Barrera: Noticed she vanished? Barrera (Samantha Carpenter from Scream and Scream VI) was actually fired by Spyglass Media Group thanks to things she posted on social media. Not plot, just politics.
• Jenna Ortega: Also gone. Unlike Barrera, Ortega chose to walk—specifically to show support for Barrera after her firing. In Ortega’s own words, the whole production was falling apart after the team changed, and she decided it wasn’t the right career move if the original directors and people weren’t sticking around.

Strange set of circumstances for a horror sequel, especially one obsessed with legacy characters and meta nods. But that’s Hollywood sequel-making in 2024—sometimes the biggest plot twist is who actually shows up onscreen.