WARNING! This article contains SPOILERS for Beetlejuice Beetlejuice (2024)!Betelgeuse’s decision to take Lydia into the afterlife leads to their marriage pact being voided inBeetlejuice 2, but the sequel hides an even more brutal punishment for the “bio-exorcist” in a blink-or-you’ll-miss-it reveal. AfterAstrid is tricked by Jeremyinto giving up her life, Lydia has to make a deal with Betelgeuse to rescue her daughter from the afterlife. Lydia agrees to marry Betelgeuse in exchange for his help, thus fulfilling their incomplete wedding vows fromBeetlejuice’s 1988 ending. However, in doing so,Betelgeuse breaks “Code 699,” which forbids the dead from bringing the living into the afterlife.
InBeetlejuice 2’s ending, Astrid reveals that the punishment for breaking Code 699 is that any marriages with the living are voided, therefore freeing Lydia from Betelgeuse yet again. While this is the only punishment that Astrid reveals aloud, the openpage about Code 699 in theHandbook for the Recently Deceasedconfirms that there are some additional penaltiesacquired for breaking this rule. In fact, the additional punishments that Astrid doesn’t mention help lay the groundwork for Michael Keaton to return as Betelgeuse in apotentialBeetlejuice 3movie.
Betelgeuse Is Forced To Spend 100 More Years In The Afterlife For Breaking Code 699
FollowingBeetlejuice 2’s ‘MacArthur Park” dance scene, Astrid looks through theHandbook for the Recently Deceasedto read about how to conjure a sandworm. While the movie barely lingers on the book, it just so happens that the page about Code 699 is what Astrid accidentally flips to before finding the instructions for how to summon a sandworm. When looking deeper at the pages,Beetlejuice 2subtly reveals that there are actually five specified punishmentsthat the deceased individual incurs for breaking Code 699:
The fifth punishment is a bit too illegible to decipher in the blurryBeetlejuice 2scene of Astrid reading it, but it mentions another consequence for the deceased that involves a “long and unspecified amount of time.” Therefore, not only does breaking Code 699 nullify Betelgeuse and Lydia’s marriage, but it alsoforces another 100 years to be added to Betelgeuse’s afterlife, keeps him from freely entering the world of the living, and forces him to work as a civil servant in the Neitherworld, which seems to be the exact predicament he was in afterBeetlejuice’s original ending.
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The punishment for Code 699 also better explains whyMichael Keaton’s returningBeetlejuice 2characteris working in the Afterlife Call Center. The 1988 Tim Burton movie established that ghosts who died by suicide are forced to become civil servants in the afterlife, which implied that Betelgeuse died in this manner given he was previously an assistant toBeetlejuice’s case worker Juno. However,Beetlejuice 2reveals that Betelgeuse was murdered by Delores. If hepreviously broke another afterlife rule with a punishment that forced clerical work upon him, then his call center and case worker positions make more sense.
Betelgeuse’s Afterlife Extension Helps Set Up Michael Keaton’s Beetlejuice 3 Return
Betelgeuse Isn’t Going Anywhere For The Next 100 Years
After bringing a living soul into the afterlife realm, Betelgeuse has been punished by having his own afterlife extended by another 100 years. Betelgeuse has already been dead for well over 600 years, sotacking on another century gives him plenty more time to create mischief in the realm of the dead. This means that Betelgeuse won’t be able to “move on” likeBeetlejuice’s Maitlandsor pass over to the Great Beyond over the next 100 years, which leaves the door open for Keaton’s character to muster up more chaos inBeetlejuice 3.
When asked about whetherBeetlejuice 3will happen, Tim Burton toldThe Hollywood Reporter, “If [the same] time frame goes on, I’ll be about 100. So maybe. I doubt it.”
If Betelgeuse is still around and stuck in the afterlife, then odds are that he’ll continue to haunt Lydiaand attempt to reconnect withBeetlejuice’s Deetz familyduring this time. Whether that means terrorizing Lydia and Astrid from the afterlife or trying to bother the now-deceased Delia and Charles from beyond the grave, there’s at least another century of mischief to expect before Betelgeuse can officially go away for good. While Tim Burton hasn’t given any indication thatBeetlejuice 3is happening anytime soon, there’s certainly an opportunity for Betelgeuse and the Deetzes to go toe-to-toe once more.
Beetlejuice 2’s Code 699 Punishment Reveals Why He Hasn’t Gone To The Great Beyond After 700 Years
Betelgeuse’s Trouble-Making History Has Incurred Plenty Of Penalties
ConsideringAdam and Barbara Maitland found a loopholeto “move on” after being dead for less than 35 years, it was somewhat surprising that Betelgeuse was still around after 700 years. However,his prolonged stay is seemingly explained by the many punishments he’s incurred over his rule-breaking history. Juno noted in the original movie that Betelgeuse was a known troublemaker, so it’s more than likely that he’s broken enough rules in theHandbook for the Recently Deceasedsimilar toBeetlejuice 2’s Code 699 to give him a 700+-year afterlife.
Beetlejuice Beetlejuice
Cast
Beetlejuice Beetlejuice is the sequel to the original Tim Burton classic that starred Michael Keaton and Wynona Rider in a horror-comedy that involved ghosts trying to scare off new homebuyers from taking their house. The sequel brings back Michael Keaton as the hilarious and sleazy ghost with selfish intentions, now joined by Jenna Ortega in a new role.
Beetlejuice
Tim Burton’s Beetlejuice stars Michael Keaton as the titular “bio-exorcist”, an obnoxious spirit who specializes in driving living occupants out of homes. When Barbara (Geena Davis) and Adam Maitland (Alec Baldwin) die suddenly, they pass into the spirit realm, and must stay in their home. However, in the living world, the Deetz family purchases the house and moves in, prompting the Maitlands to enlist the help of Beetlejuice to drive them away.
