While Panettiere assures that Kirby has obviously been affected by her near-death experience, her magnetic spirit hasn’t entirely disappeared (via Entertainment Weekly):
“She’s come a long way […] What happened to her has obviously impacted her life, and it sends her in a certain direction, but she’s still the same old Kirby at the heart of it. She’s just a little older, a little wiser, but just as spitfire-y, and snarky, and all that good stuff.”
If you listen closely, you’ll hear the sound of Kirby fans around the world breathing a sigh of relief. The campaign to bring her back for another “Scream” had been going strong since 2011, after all. But with most of her friends falling prey to Ghostface’s generational stronghold, Kirby’s return will likely involve adjusting to the batch of new blood. Even though Panettiere felt the same pressure when stepping onto set of “Scream VI,” they made her feel right at home:
“I did feel a little like I had to find my way back into the new group because that crew had done the prior film. But they were all so welcoming. It was interesting, they made me part of their family that I had already been a part of. [Laughs] So it was like an estranged aunt came back into the fold!”
Of the survivors from “Scream” (2022), it wouldn’t surprise me if the person she ends up forming a close kinship with is Mindy Meeks-Martin (Jasmin Savoy Brown), who ended up taking over the movie nerd mantle. Here’s hoping that Kirby gets to knock Ghostface down a peg this time around.
“Scream VI” is set to hit theaters on March 10, 2023.