The highly-awaited Scream VI will feature the return of a fan-favorite character that hasn't been part of the franchise for twelve years: Kirby Reed. Played by Hayden Panettiere, Kirby was hugely popular in her debut in Scream 4, and her return is among the most anticipated in the upcoming sixth entry.
Like Panettiere, many actors reprised their beloved roles in famous franchises after years of absence and missing a few films. And while some of their returns were questionable, considering they were supposedly dead, fans and critics didn't care and welcomed them back with arms wide open.
1 Hayden Panettiere - Scream VI (2023)
Scream 4 didn't exactly launch a new Scream trilogy, but it did introduce the fan-favorite character of Kirby Reed. Played by millennial icon Hayden Panettiere, Kirby had one of the film's most memorable roles, becoming its breakout character. Despite Ghostface stabbing her, her fate remains uncertain at the end.
The series' fifth entry, the bizarrely-named Scream, didn't feature her, but the upcoming sixth movie will. Panettiere's return was heavily promoted, with the actress declaring that fans wouldn't be disappointed with Kirby's long-awaited return.
2 Sung Kang - F9 (2021)
The Fast & Furious franchise becomes increasingly ludicrous with each new entry, but fans and critics don't care; that's part of its charm. The series has several beloved characters, including Han Lue, played by Korean actor Sung Kang.
Han has a convoluted story. Introduced and seemingly killed in The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift, Han returns in Fast & Furious, Fast Five, and Fast & Furious 6, which take place before Tokyo Drift. Furious 7 shows his death via footage, and he skips The Fate of the Furious entirely. However, the series brought him back nearly a decade later, with F9 revealing he faked his death in Tokyo and proving there's never a dull moment with Toretto's family.
3 Jamie Lee Curtis - Halloween (2018)
Jamie Lee Curtis is cinema's undisputed scream queen. The original final girl rose to prominence thanks to her role in John Carpenter's game-changing 1978 slasher Halloween, playing the naive but resilient Laurie Strode. Curtis reprised her role in the 1981 sequel but skipped the subsequent films in the expanding franchise, which took an increasingly ridiculous tone.
Still, Curtis returned to the series after prolonged absences twice. First, she reprised her role in 1998's Halloween H20: 20 Years Later, returning for 2002's Halloween: Resurrection, seemingly dying during one final encounter with Michael Myers. However, Curtis returned again for the 2018 reboot Halloween, which acts as a direct sequel to the 1978 original and ignores the events of every subsequent film. It launched a new trilogy, with Curtis playing Laurie throughout the three films.
4 William Hurt - Captain America: Civil War (2016)
The MCU saw a clash of heroes in 2016's Captain America: Civil War. The film juggled multiple characters -- perhaps too many --, including infamous Marvel villain Thaddeus "Thunderbolt" Ross, played by the late William Hurt. The Oscar winner first played the character in 2008's forgotten The Incredible Hulk, opposite Edward Norton. After an eight-year absence, Hurt reprised the role in key supporting roles in Civil War, Avengers: Infinity War, Avengers: Endgame, and Black Widow.
Following Hurt's passing in 2022, Marvel recast the character with Harrison Ford. The beloved actor will play Ross in two upcoming Phase 5 projects, Captain America: New World Order and Thunderbolts.
5 Arnold Schwarzenegger - Terminator: Genisys (2016)
The Terminator franchise shouldn't have existed without James Cameron helming it. Arnold Schwarzenegger returned to the series twelve years after Judgement Day for the third entry, Rise of the Machines. However, he skipped the next installment, the now-infamous Salvation.
The tepid response to Salvation prompted the studio to reboot the series, and Schwarzenegger returned for the misguided Terminator: Genisys, opposite Emilia Clarke as Sarah Connor. The film was critically panned, and the studio went for another soft reboot, Terminator: Dark Fate, bringing back Schwarzenegger and Linda Hamilton and ignoring the events of Rise of the Machines, Salvation, and Genisys. However, that film was also negatively received, despite Cameron's active involvement.
6 Linda Hamilton - Terminator: Dark Fate (2019)
Unlike Schwarzenegger, Linda Hamilton stayed away from the Terminator franchise following Judgement Day's success. The actress didn't return for Rise of the Machines, much less for Salvation; she even saw her role recast in Genisys!
Her and Cameron's long-awaited returns in Dark Fate were much-hyped by the studio, with fans hoping it would be a much-needed course-correcting for a struggling series that lost itself trying to become a franchise. Sadly, not even she could save Terminator: Dark Fate, a film that made many questionable choices and couldn't justify any. Recently, Cameron revealed he might reboot the Terminator franchise, which might be for the best.
7 Natalie Portman - Thor: Love And Thunder (2022)
Academy Award winner Natalie Portman chose not to return for the third movie in the Thor series. It's hard to blame her, considering Thor: The Dark World is among the worst movies in the MCU. The Dark World's notoriously complicated production became more notorious than the film itself, and the future didn't look bright for the God of Thunder. However, Taika Waititi gave the series a much-needed prevention, resulting in the hilarious and dynamic Thor: Ragnarok.
Convinced by Waititi to return, Portman returned to the role of Jane Foster after nearly a decade of absence. Unfortunately, Thor: Love and Thunder received a much more divisive response from critics and audiences, although her portrayal of Mighty Thor attracted praise.
8 Orlando Bloom & Keira Knightley - Pirates Of The Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales (2017)
Orlando Bloom and Keira Knightley were crucial to the success of the Pirates of the Caribbean trilogy. The romance between Will and Elizabeth provided de series' emotional core, giving fans a more grounded storyline to root for among the fantastical nautical shenanigans.
The duo seemingly parted ways with the franchise in the third film, At World's End and skipped the fourth entry, On Stranger Tides. However, Bloom returned with a key supporting role in the fifth movie, Dead Men Tell No Tales, while Knightley played a cameo in the end. Two other of the franchise's veterans, Geoffrey Rush and Bill Nighy, also reprised their roles as Barbossa and Davy Jones.
9 The Cast Of X-Men - X-Men: Days Of Future Past (2014)
The original X-Men trilogy can be credited with launching the superhero boom of the new millennium. The series seemingly ended with 2006's divisive X-Men: The Last Stand, with 2011's X-Men: First Class acting as a prequel with an all-new cast. However, casts past and present united for 2014's massive crossover, X-Men: Days of Future Past.
The film juggled both casts deftly, even if most of the action occurred in the past with the younger cast. Fan favorites like Patrick Stewart, Ian McKellen, Halle Berry, Elliot Page, Famke Jansen, and James Marsden reprised their roles in the film, which retconned The Last Stand's events.
10 Harrison Ford, Peter Mayhew, Mark Hamill, & Carrie Fisher - Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015)
The original Star Wars trilogy ended in 1983 with Return of the Jedi. Sixteen years later, George Lucas went back to the galaxy far, far away to explore Darth Vader's origin story. The prequels didn't call for the presence of Harrison Ford, Mark Hamill, or Carrie Fisher, but actor Peter Mayhew reprised his role as Chewbacca for Revenge of the Sith.
Finally, after a thirty-three-year absence, Ford, Hamill, and Fisher joined Mayhew in returning to the universe that made them famous with the 2015 sequel The Force Awakens. The film broke box office records and launched a new trilogy, and even if it didn't receive the same acclaim as the original, it scored major points with fans for reuniting the original trio.