Warning: Spoilers ahead for Beetlejuice Beetlejuice!Despite being a critical factor in of the Deetz family after the sudden death of Charles brought them back to Winter River.

Lydia never quite recovered from her first encounter with the "ghost with the most" as a teen. However, she was forced to turn to Betelgeuse for help when her teenage daughter, Astrid, got caught up in a dangerous ploy involving a killer ghost named Jeremy. Even a reluctant team-up and successful rescue mission didn't truly change Betelgeuse from being the agent of chaos like in the first movie. A lot happened between Beetlejuice and Beetlejuice 2, but oddly enough, one interesting aspect of Beetlejuice's main villain remained the same.

Beetlejuice 2 Repeats Michael Keaton's 17 Minutes Of Screen Time From The Original Movie

The Original Beetlejuice Movie Featured Less Of Keaton Than Most Viewers

Michael Keaton may have played the titular character in 1988's Beetlejuice, but the actor was never the real lead, at least not in of screen time. Keaton's Betelgeuse only appears for 17 minutes in the original Beetlejuice, which could come as a surprise to many, considering how much of a driving force he still is to the movie's legacy. Interestingly enough, Beetlejuice 2 also gave Keaton 17 minutes of screen time, and no, it was not a coincidence.

Writers Miles Millar and Alfred Gough were well aware of Betelgeuse's limited appearance in 1988, and the pair wanted to follow that approach for the long-awaited sequel. While acknowledging that Betelgeuse "needs to be essential to the movie," the Beetlejuice 2 writers knew flooding the sequel with Keaton's character wouldn't be the correct approach. Instead, they focused on quality over quantity, itting that they wanted to keep "the magic trick" of Betelgeuse alive by fooling viewers into feeling like the character appeared more than what the screen time suggested.

Why Keeping Betelgeuse's Screen Time Limited Is The Right Move In Beetlejuice 2

The Beetlejuice Movies Follow A Horror Villain Trend

The screen time approach to Betelgeuse worked out for the 1988 movie, and keeping Michael Keaton in the limited role for Beetlejuice 2 was another genius move. It took Beetlejuice 2 nearly 36 years to happen, so it's understandable to think returning characters, especially someone like Betelgeuse, would get the bulk of the screen time. Instead, the sequel proved just how important it was to savor the character's presence by giving Betelgeuse a more notable impact on the story in short bursts compared to if he was continuously involved. Smaller doses also allowed for high-energy sequences and some of Beetlejuice 2's best gags.

The "less is more" approach certainly isn't new, especially when looking back at noteworthy movie villains and the horror genre in general. It's almost like having a villain like Halloween's Michael Myers or the shark from Jaws being a menace but not ruining the villain's impact by killing the intrigue with too much direct screen time. Returning figures were an enticing element of Beetlejuice 2, with anticipation surrounding Keaton's reprisal of his Betelgeuse role. That said, even Keaton used his limited Beetlejuice 2 screen time as a condition for his return, believing that too much of the bio-exorcist would become "very tiresome."