A Deleted Scream Scene Would Have Given Audiences A Fun Kirby Easter Egg
Although the current state of the "Scream" franchise is a giant mess, it's worth remembering that merely a few years ago, its future seemed as bright as ever. 2022's "Scream" was a clear-cut hit at the box office, and it successfully introduced a whole new generation of characters who could be chased around with a knife for many installments to come. "Scream 5" not only did all this while keeping Sidney and Gale in the fold, but it also set the groundwork for the return of Kirby (Hayden Panettiere).
Despite being a fan favorite in "Scream 4," Kirby was tragically left for dead near the end of the movie. How'd she die? Well, she made the tragic mistake of trusting her potential love interest Charlie (Rory Culkin), trying to save him from Ghostface when she should've been saving herself. The good news is that Kirby was soon avenged by her supportive, trusted friend Jill. The bad news is that Jill also turned out to be a killer. (See, this right here is why high school friendships rarely last.)
For over a decade afterward, Kirby fans argued that she might still be alive, pointing out how the camera cut away with Kirby still moving around. They were widely accused of being delusional, but their faith was vindicated with a small easter egg in "Scream 5," where a video thumbnail titled "Interview With Woodsboro Survivor Kirby Reed!" was shown on a character's laptop screen. This was followed by the announcement that Hayden Panettiere was reprising her role in "Scream VI," and the Kirby fans have been winning ever since. But if the movie's co-directors Radio Silence (Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett) had their way, Kirby's return would've been given a much bigger teaser.
The Scream 'Missing' poster that never was
In a 2022 "Ask Me Anything" thread, Radio Silence responded to a fan question about their plans for Kirby in "Scream 5." They explained:
"We had wanted to include [Kirby] in some way from very early in the process and spoke with Hayden, but we didn't want to shoehorn Kirby into the movie, so we kept looking for a place to put her in. In a deleted scene at the sheriff's [station], there was a Kirby missing poster behind Jasmin [Savoy Brown] and Mikey [Madison]."
It's a fascinating detail, because it implies a completely different plan for Kirby's role in the franchise than what we got. Whereas Kirby's "Scream VI" role paints a picture of someone who's been living a straightforward life training and then working for the FBI, a missing poster implies that she's gone off the grid entirely. Maybe she's been kidnapped, or maybe she's planning some Ghostface hijinks of her own. "Scream VI" briefly played around with the idea of Kirby being a killer, but that red herring likely would've been way more convincing if it'd been pre-established that she once mysteriously vanished for a significant period of time.
On the bright side, the franchise clearly made the right choice in waiting until "Scream VI" to give Kirby her proper reintroduction. The small Easter egg in "Scream 5" helped to give the more skeptical, critical fans of the franchise some extra time to make peace with Kirby's miraculous survival, and holding off on her meant that "Scream 5" had more time to properly introduce the new cast of characters. When Kirby finally returned in "Scream VI," she had a clear role that intersected naturally with the main plot; it may have taken a while, but Kirby fans finally got their reward.