Warning: Spoilers ahead for Beetlejuice Beetlejuice!
Charles Deetz is dead in Beetlejuice 2, and the circumstances surrounding the character’s death serve as a constant reminder throughout the sequel, thanks to various gags. Jeffrey Jones played Charles in Tim Burton’s original entry in the franchise, which released 36 years ago. It was Charles who moved the Deetz family to Winter River when the Maitland home became available following Adam and Barbara’s passing. After teasing Charles’ death in Beetlejuice 2‘s trailers, the movie’s release sheds light on what happened to the character.
Following the release of Beetlejuice, Jeffrey Jones encountered legal issues stemming from serious criminal offenses. The events explain why Jones doesn’t return as Charles in Beetlejuice 2, but the long-awaited sequel still needed to explain the character’s absence since the actor wasn’t reprising his role. With so much controversy surrounding the actor in the years since his legal trouble, it makes sense why the movie took the direction it did. Granted, the details surrounding Charles’ death and what happens after are surprising.
Beetlejuice 2’s Trailer First Confirmed Charles Deetz’s Death
The possibility of Jeffrey Jones’ return for the 2024 sequel was slim, but it was shocking to see the fate of Charles revealed so soon before the movie released. Beetlejuice 2‘s first teaser confirms Charles’ death by including scenes from his funeral in Winter River. His family, including Delia, Lydia, and Astrid, are shown solemnly standing by his casket while a children’s choir performs Harry Belafonte’s “Day-O” song. Later, Lydia and Astrid have a conversation about the living and the dead, teasing what’s to come for the Deetz family, especially the youngest Deetz family member, who already has a complicated relationship with death after her father’s passing.
Charles Deetz Was Killed By A Shark In Beetlejuice 2
The Shark Attack Happened After A Plane Crash
Before the funeral scene shown in the trailers, Beetlejuice 2 thoroughly explains how Charles is killed. And when I say “thoroughly,” I mean “presented by a stop-motion recreation of events in true Tim Burton fashion.” Not only was the character involved in a plane crash while on a South American bird-watching expedition, but Beetlejuice 2 reveals that Charles ended up being killed by a shark attack while trying to join the other survivors on the floating wreckage in the ocean. When Delia tells Lydia what happened, she hilariously takes a bit to explain the cause of death.
After picking up Astrid from school, the family and Rory prepare for Charles’ funeral in Winter River. Aside from the fitting performance of “Day-O,” the sequence shows Charles’ very fitting headstone, which is shaped like a shark fin. It also features a picture of Charles, as well as “Husband, Father, Bird Watcher,” all details that Delia surely would’ve picked out for her beloved husband. The focus then shifts to the wake back at the house that is now fully draped in black covering as part of Delia’s “art of sorrow” endeavor to channel grief into art.
Interestingly, Charles isn’t the only Beetlejuice 2 character killed by a shark. While in the Neitherworld waiting room, Charles sits next to a surfer who was bitten from the waist down. The original Beetlejuice already showcased Burton’s creativity regarding bizarre character deaths, but the sequel takes it up a notch. Beetlejuice 2 features Astrid’s father attacked by piranhas, a burnt Santa Claus, an older woman eaten by her cats, and a woman seemingly impaled by a javelin at the Olympics, to name a few. Of course, there’s also Delia, who dies from two snake bites in the neck.
How Charles Still Appears In Beetlejuice 2
Charles Is Still Present Throughout The Sequel
Charles Deetz might be dead in Beetlejuice 2, but that doesn’t completely prevent the character from appearing in the sequel. Aside from the stop-motion recreation of the character’s tragic demise, Charles appears throughout the afterlife realm with half of his body missing as a result of the shark attack. He’s first (partially) seen entering the Neitherworld in confusion before later entering an afterlife dry cleaner. Charles appears a few more times, wandering around, narrowly missing other characters and his own family until reuniting with Delia outside of the Soul Train in Beetlejuice 2‘s ending.
the afterlife depiction allows Charles to be somewhat present in the movie without requiring Jones’ direct involvement.
In addition to the stop-motion sequence, Jeffrey Jones’ image is used several times, such as on the headstone and in a portrait of the character at the wake. However, the afterlife depiction allows Charles to be somewhat present in the movie without requiring Jones’ direct involvement. While Charles can still talk, his presence in the afterlife only requires a body missing its head, meaning Beetlejuice 2 found a loophole in having Charles return. Still, Jones didn’t come back to voice his 1988 character, but at the time of writing, there’s no confirmation on who took over the role.