It's Halloween season, which means for many of us it's time to re-watch the best horror movies. That includes the Scream films, which are still popular and continue to arrive in theaters to this day. But there's nothing like the original, which introduced us to final girl Sidney Prescott, as well as OG Ghostface killers Billy Loomis and Stu Macher. The latter was played by Matthew Lillard, who recently responded to fans shipping those killers as a romantic couple. What's more, he even has a fun nickname for Billy and Stu.
What we know about Scream 7 is limited, but fans are hyped that Lillard will somehow be back as Stu, despite his death at the end of the first movie (which is streaming with a Paramount+ subscription). At a recent convention appearance with co-star Skeet Ulrich (via TikTok), the Scooby-Doo actor addressed the theory that Stu and Billy were actually a secret couple. In his words:
[They're] for sure gay. We call ourselves the first husbands of horror. And here's the reality, it was never discussed on the day, was not an issue, but I think that we both really love it and hold on to it now as it's sort of grown in popularity, this thought that these two characters were gay. And the reason is that you can't take it away, like nobody can strip us of that belief. And in the world we're living in right now, live with it.
Honestly, I didn't expect this answer. It's one thing to acknowledge this fan theory about Stu and Billy, but it's another for Matthew Lillard to so wholeheartedly agree with it. And now I'm going to have a hard time re-watching Scream without referring to these original Ghostface killers as "The First Husbands of Horror." It's really got a ring to it.
While Billy and Stu's romantic relationship isn't technically canon in the Scream franchise, that hasn't stopped Lillard from embracing the fan theory as it has become popular over the years. After getting the actors' approval, I have to assume that shippers will get even more passionate about the subject than before.
This particular fan theory came from the devotion that Stu had for Billy throughout the first Scream movie... even if his fellow killer ended up cutting him too deep when trying to frame Sidney. And once the pair confess to the murders (including Sidney's mother), they also end up being a bit touchy-feely. The above shot of the pair of killers is a big reason why moviegoers started shipping these two characters.
As Matthew Lillard said, the idea of Billy and Stu being secretly gay never actually came up on the set of the original Scream. But both he and Skeet Ulrich seem tickled by fan theory, and have embraced it as it has gotten more popular over the years. I just love how much they're into it, tbh.
We'll just have to wait and see if this goes from fan theory to official canon when Matthew Lillard appears in the next upcoming horror movie. The first Scream 7 trailer briefly features his voice, but it's still unclear how Stu will factor into the story. Hopefully, we get information sooner rather than later.
Scream 7 is expected to hit theaters on February 27th as part of the 2026 movie release list. We'll just have to wait and hope for some footage of Lillard to arrive. Fingers crossed.
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