Exclusive: Willem Dafoe Cast In Beetlejuice 2, Character Revealed
Willem Dafoe will appear as an afterlife cop in Beetlejuice 2.
Acclaimed actor Willem Dafoe will appear in the upcoming Beetlejuice 2 as some kind of ghostly police officer, which feels enormously appropriate. According to our trusted and proven sources, the once and (maybe) future Green Goblin has joined the rapidly expanding cast of the Tim Burton sequel, which has been in development in various forms since 1990. Surprisingly, this will be the first time that Willem Dafoe and Tim Burton have collaborated, as you would think they would be a match made in some kind of afterlife.
While details on the plot of Beetlejuice 2 are still largely unknown, it is confirmed that Willem Dafoe will basically be playing a post-death cop. That said, it remains to be seen whether Dafoe’s character will be a heroic or villainous figure, or (more likely) a member of the afterlife bureaucracy glimpsed in the first movie. Given that Beetlejuice established that people who die of suicide become civil servants in the netherworld, it will be interesting to see what kind of death makes one become a ghost cop.
It seems likely that Willem Dafoe’s ghost cop will be after the eponymous character, who appears to be something of a malcontent within the social structure of the afterlife. Whether that means that Beetlejuice has committed some kind of ghost crime (and thus must do the ghost time) or is in cahoots with a corrupt ghost cop will remain to be seen.
Either way, we are certainly looking forward to the return of Michael Keaton as Beetlejuice; the actor seems to be up for returning to a number of iconic roles, considering his imminent appearance as Batman in the upcoming DC movie The Flash. Along with Keaton, Beetlejuice 2 will also feature returning stars Winona Ryder, Catherine O’Hara, and original score composer Danny Elfman. There is no word whether Alec Baldwin and Geena Davis will be reprising their roles as normcore ghost homeowners, though at least the latter has said she is up for it.
In addition to Willem Dafoe, Beetlejuice 2 will also feature new characters played by Jenna Ortega and Justin Theroux (our scoop on the latter of which was just confirmed by Deadline). Jenna Ortega will be playing the daughter of Winona Ryder’s character Lydia Deetz, which is kind of a gothfish-in-a-barrel casting for the film.
It is not known who Justin Theroux will be playing, but we have speculated he might be some kind of unscrupulous promoter looking to latch onto Beetlejuice’s disgusting, rotted coattails.
Beetlejuice 2 will be the first time Willem Dafoe and Tim Burton have worked together, though apparently, the actor was on the shortlist to play the Joker in the blockbuster 1989 Batman film, also featuring Michael Keaton.
However, Willem Dafoe has no shortage of experience playing supernatural creatures, such as a real vampire pretending to be an actor pretending to be a vampire in the 2000 film Shadow of the Vampire, a fictionalized behind-the-scenes look at the making of the 1922 film Nosferatu. He will also be appearing in Robert Eggers’ upcoming remake of the same film, though not as a vampire this time.
