Tim Burton’s long-awaited original characters returned in 2024’s Beetlejuice 2, including Betelgeuse, Lydia Deetz, Delia Deetz, Charles Deetz, and Little Jane Butterfield. Overall, the most notable quirks of the original characters were maintained in the sequel, but a few important details were left in the past.

Though Charles’ bird obsession and Delia’s artistic New Yorker quirks returned in Beetlejuice 2, there were some notable differences between Winona Ryder’s teenage Lydia Deetz in the 1988 movie and the character's appearance as an adult. Of course, most people generally change between ages 16 and 52, but Lydia’s altered demeanor is even called out by Delia: “Where’s the obnoxious little goth girl who tormented me all those years ago?” Lydia’s style is the same and her ghost-seeing ability is still prominent, but some other features, such as her sardonic wit and her teenage hobby, are absent.

Beetlejuice 2 Ignored Lydia's Photography Interest From The Original Movie

Lydia Photography Hobby Was A Notable Detail For Her Characters In The 1988 Movie

Teenagers often have hobbies that they drop as adults, but Lydia seemed like the type of person who, like Charles with his bird interest, would have maintained her focus on photography into adulthood. Throughout the 1988 Beetlejuice movie, it was often noted that Lydia had a talent as a photographer and used it as her creative outlet. From snapping pictures of Adam and Barbara Maitland’s ghosts to Charles telling her that he’d put a darkroom in the Winter River house, Lydia’s photography hobby was an important part of her characterization in Beetlejuice.

However, there’s no mention of this interest whatsoever in Beetlejuice 2. Charles is still into birds (which ironically leads to his death), Delia has an art gallery in New York City, and Astrid maintains a strong sense of environmental activism after her father Richard’s death, but it’s hard to tell what Lydia’s personal interests even are in the 2024 sequel. Lydia’s story is almost entirely confined to the Ghost House TV show that she seems to have little ion for, her relationship with Rory that has no true love involved, and her difficult relationship with Astrid.

Beetlejuice 3 Can Revive Lydia's Photography Hobby After Ending Her Ghost House Show

Lydia's Teenage ion Can Return After Ending Her TV Show

While Beetlejuice 2 didn’t include any nods to Lydia’s photography hobby, that detail could finally reappear in a potential Beetlejuice 3 movie. No official word has come from Warner Bros about another follow-up, but the 2024 sequel does leave the door open to further explore the Deetz family’s story. For instance, before Delia returns to the afterlife in Beetlejuice 2’s ending, she tells Lydia and Astrid that she intends to find Charles, bring him back with her, and haunt her stepdaughter and granddaughter.

Tim Burton stated in 2024 that he doubts Beetlejuice 3 will happen. The director told The Hollywood Reporter, "Well, if [the same] time frame goes on, I'll be about 100. So maybe. I doubt it."

If Beetlejuice 3 does happen, then the next movie could focus more on Lydia’s personal developments and rediscovery of herself after her second bout with Betelgeuse. Since Lydia films her final episode of Ghost House at the end of Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, she’ll seemingly be looking for another pastime or ion to take over her TV hosting role. Photography, her earliest known ion, could be the answer, fulfilling Delia’s advice to go find the “obnoxious goth girl” who became a horror icon in the 1988 film.

Source: THR