10 Horror Movie Sequels That Totally Insulted Great Characters
5. Stanley - It Chapter Two
Stanley doesn’t have much material to work with in the two-film adaptation of Stephen King’s doorstop (one-thousand-plus page) It. Even in the first flick of the series he’s essentially a halfway house between the resilient Bill and nervy hypochondriac Eddie, never as brave as the former or cowardly as the latter and somewhat lost in the mix as a result.
The fact that every other member of the Losers Club has a clearly etched identity, whether it’s good-hearted rebel Beverly or the loud-mouthed comic relief Richie, may have tipped audiences off to the fact that Stanley wasn’t going to last long when it came time for a sequel.
Trouble is, future I Am Not Okay With This star Wyatt Oleff did a little too well with the limited material he was supplied, with his soft-spoken, believably awkward teenager acting as the glue holding the group together in the series’ first instalment. Despite lacking an arc, Stanely is subject to some terrifying scares in Chapter One, and as such viewers could be forgiven for hoping to see more from him come the sequel.
Unfortunately, the second chapter opens with Stanley’s suicide acting as evidence that, to quote the venerable Martin Lawrence, “this s**t just got real”. As a result, Stanley’s contributions are limited to a handful of flashbacks, which ironically serve to remind viewers that the character had solid chemistry with his friends and could have been a great addition to the cast.