Warning: Spoilers ahead for Beetlejuice Beetlejuice!Beetlejuice 2takes viewers back to the afterlife, but new details involving dead characters make a Neitherworld rule in Tim Burton’s original 1988 movie more confusing. TheNeitherworld inBeetlejuiceis expandedin the sequel, featuring more locations, characters, and rules regarding the afterlife process. While most ofBeetlejuice 2’s main charactersget a chance to visit the afterlife, allowing the realm to have a more prominent presence, many details surrounding the Neitherworld were revealed in the first movie following Adam and Barbara Maitland’s deaths.
Alec Baldwin and Geena Davis' Maitlands aren’t inBeetlejuice 2, but sequel characters get plenty of exposure to ghosts and other spirits this time around. Aside from the return of Michael Keaton’s “ghost with the most,” Jenna Ortega’s Astrid finds herself stuck in the afterlife after trusting a dangerous Winter River resident. Lydia (Winona Ryder) then teams up with Beetlejuice to rescue her teenage daughter as the group encounters other members of the Deetz family, including Astrid’s father, Richard (Santiago Cabrera). ByBeetlejuice 2’s ending, the focus shifts back to the real world, but the ghost rules become more muddled.
Beetlejuice 2 Retcons The Afterlife’s Rule About Ghosts Becoming Civil Servants
The Neitherworld Presents Civil Servants Differently In The Sequel
When Adam and Barbara died in the originalBeetlejuice, they were led to the afterlife after reading the Handbook for the Recently Deceased. While in the Neitherworld waiting room, they encountered Miss Argentina (Patrice Martinez), a notablymissing character fromBeetlejuice 2, who serves as the receptionist.Beetlejuicealso confirmed that the civil servants working in the afterlife were those who died by suicide, including Miss Argentina. However,Beetlejuice 2seemingly retcons the fact that suicide deaths lead to working as afterlife bureaucratsbased on who is seen in the Neitherworld during the sequel.
Considering his afterlife job, the assumption would be that Richard was forced to work there due to a death by suicide, but that’s not the case.
Not only doesBeetlejuice 2explain how Richard died, but the sequel also introduces Astrid’s dad as a member of the Neitherworld. As she’s being taken to the Soul Train in the Neitherworld, Astrid sees her dad working in the afterlife’s immigration department. Considering his afterlife job, the assumption would be that Richard was forced to work there due to a death by suicide, but that’s not the case. Richard was killed in a boating accident where piranhas feasted on his body based on his afterlife appearance; there’s nothing about his death that suggests suicide.
Beetlejuice 2 Makes The Afterlife Rules Way More Confusing Than The Original Movie
Several Neitherworld Rules Become Unclear In The Sequel
Beetlejuice’s backstoryalso confirms he was poisoned by Delores (Monica Bellucci) during the Black Plague despite being Juno’s (Sylvia Sidney) assistant before becoming a “bio-exorcist” in the original movie. The speculation that he, too, died by suicide came to an end with the character’s origin story. By shifting the Neitherworld rules inBeetlejuice 2, there’s more confusion about how the afterlife realm operates in the franchise.Many of the civil servants seen inBeetlejuice 2seem to have died from freak accidents out of their control, so the suicide rules make established lore more confusing.
Beetlejuice 2 Ignores A Huge Part Of Adam & Barbara’s Deaths In The Original Movie
The original Beetlejuice established interesting afterlife rules, but the sequel doesn’t seem to follow one interesting Neitherworld aspect.
The Neitherworld’s suicide rule isn’t the only aspect ofBeetlejuice’s afterlife that has resulted in some head-scratching. There’s also the 125-year rule andBeetlejuice 2’s lack of time dilation as opposed to the original movie. Though Beetlejuice showed that time moved differently in the afterlife, that isn’t the case in the sequel. Additionally,Adam and Barbara left the home after discovering a “loophole,“bypassing the rule that would’ve kept them in the house for 125 years.
A Subtle Beetlejuice 2 Detail Could Explain The Afterlife’s Job Rules
The Sequel Has A Brief Clue Regarding Suicides & Civil Servants
Funny enough, a moment involving Keaton’s character could shed light on why Beetlejuice, Richard, and other employees are stuck working in the afterlife following their non-suicide deaths. Following the events of theoriginalBeetlejuice’s ending, Keaton’s character was seemingly sent back to the afterlife. In a shocking turn of events, Beetlejuice ended up becoming the Afterlife Call Center Manager with a team of “shrinkers” and his right-hand-man, Bob. While managing his team,Beetlejuice can be seen reading a newspaper at one point that has a headline suggesting some ghosts may have been mislabeled as suicide deaths.
Every Major Dead Beetlejuice Beetlejuice Character & How They Died
Here’s how every deceased major character who appears in Beetlejuice Beetlejuice met their end, both in the mortal realm and in the afterlife.
The subtle detail could just be a funBeetlejuice 2Easter egg or reference, but it could also explain why a character like Richard became a civil servant even though his death was accidental. Granted, none of the afterlife works mention being trapped working in the afterlife nor do they question why the suicide rule applied to them if it was wrong. That seems like clarificationBeetlejuice 2would have stated in further explaining the presence of some of Neitherworld’s civil servants. Without any direct explanations, afterlife rules will remain confusing whether there are retcons or not.
