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Credit: Inside the MagicJenna Ortega is certainly no stranger to the slasher genre.
After appearing as Tara Carpenter in Scream (2022) and the direct sequel Scream VI (2023), the sister of lead “final girl” Sam Carpenter (Melissa Barrera), Jenna Ortega has officially been awarded the status of “Scream Queen” (or, in this instance, Scream Queen).
Between her two Scream outings, she also appeared in the A24 slasher movie X (2022).
Sadly, though, she won’t be returning for the seventh installment in the Scream franchise as she exited the project last year. Some sources say it was due to a salary dispute, echoing Neve Campbell’s departure from the 2023 sequel, while others say it was a “scheduling conflict.”
Related: Goodbye, Jenna Ortega: Showrunners Behind Hit Netflix Series Explain Star’s Shocking Exit
Some fans even believe Ortega bowed out as an act of loyalty to co-star Melissa Barrera, who was fired some weeks prior after sharing a controversial tweet regarding the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict. But that “scheduling conflict” is undoubtedly the most likely scenario.
These were the same words used by Jurassic World: Chaos Theory (2024) showrunners Scott Kreamer and Aaron Hammersley in a recent interview with IGN, in which they explain why Ortega was unable to reprise her role as Brooklynn in the Netflix animated series.
It’s hardly surprising when you consider she’s currently filming the second season of the mega-hit series Wednesday (2022 — present) and is also set to appear in the long-awaited sequel Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice (2024) later this year, two of many projects on her agenda.
While a new actress has already filled Brooklynn’s shoes in the Jurassic World franchise (Kiersten Kelly), Ortega will be sorely missed in the upcoming Scream sequel, which has since confirmed the return of franchise legacy star Neve Campbell as Sidney Prescott.
Related: How to Watch the ‘Elm Street’ Movies, Including the Reboot and TV Series
But now, Ortega has returned to the slasher genre (sort of) in a brand-new trailer for the A Nightmare on Elm Street reboot. While the trailer from KH Studio is fan-made (supplemented with AI/artificial intelligence), it makes for an interesting talking point.
Check it out below:
Jenna Ortega isn’t the only star who’s faced Freddy Krueger in a fan-made trailer, though — KH Studio recently pitted Millie Bobby Brown against the iconic Elm Street “dream demon.” Interestingly, both actresses are global megastars whose popularity knows no bounds.
Check it out below:
Brown is also no stranger to slashers — Stranger Things Season 4 is a love letter, almost in its entirety, to A Nightmare on Elm Street. Both stars clearly have what it takes to star in an actual Elm Street reboot, but there’s something about Ortega that’s even more obvious.
Casting the Scream alum in an Elm Street reboot makes more sense than Millie Bobby Brown. While the Stranger Things icon has already gone toe to toe with “dark wizard” Vecna/One/Henry Creel (Jamie Campbell Bower) — who’s essentially a (brilliant) rehash of Freddy Krueger (Robert Englund) — Ortega deserves another chance in the slasher verse.
Sadly, there are no plans to reboot A Nightmare on Elm Street in the near future. While other slasher franchises such as Child’s Play, Halloween, Friday the 13th, and, of course, Scream, continue to churn out new content, Elm Street has seemingly been forgotten.
But if Hollywood does eventually decides to give us a new film or television series, whether it’s a reboot or a sequel set in the original A Nightmare on Elm Street timeline, we’d love to see Jenna Ortega go up against Freddy.
Would you like to see Jenna Ortega face Freddy Krueger in the A Nightmare on Elm Street reboot? Or would you prefer to see Millie Bobby Brown take on the iconic dream demon? Let Inside the Magic know what you think down below!