Halloween Kills Teaser Reveals Big Halloween II Easter Egg

To kick start the hype on the next entry in the slasher series, Jamie Lee Curtis revealed a special behind-the-scenes video for the upcoming Halloween Kills last Thursday. Hidden within the video were a handful of clues and teases for the 2020 sequel, including the direct aftermath of the 2018 plus a first look at Anthony Michael Hall as Tommy Doyle and even a hint of how Michael Myers seemingly escaped from that film’s elaborate, house-sized trap. The video ends with a major clip of Curtis herself, appearing once again as Laurie Strode, strapped down to a hospital gurney en route to an intensive care unit.

This small snippet of footage (appearing at the :16 second mark) is a seemingly minor Easter egg to the events of the original Halloween II (itself no longer canon with the 2018 film and its sequels). Released in 1981, the first Halloween II picked up right after the events of the 1978 film and saw Curtis’ Strode mostly confined to a hospital. While having her wounds from the original film treated, Michael once again stalks her, killing everyone in his way. During the final act of last year’s film, Laurie Strode took on Myers in a battle that left her with some nasty wounds, which are still fresh in the footage below.

The 2018 Halloween was no stranger to such minor Easter eggs referencing the larger franchise, including less obvious nods to the original Halloween II like a pair of young trick-or-treaters that The Shape bumps into (one dressed as a cowboy with a boombox slung over his shoulder, recreating a sequence from that sequel). Given director David Gordon Green’s proclivity for these references, it’s not out of the realm of possibility that Halloween Kills will have an extended Halloween II riff as Laurie visits yet another hospital.

Despite Halloween II no longer being canon, Halloween Kills will continue to build on the world that John Carpenter created with the 1978 original, bringing back a number of minor characters from the film that started it all and examining what their lives are like the shadow of that film.

“What I love that David and Danny and company did is they connected the dots for 40 years, now they’re going back to really unpack the first movie, bringing back all those characters whose lives were affected by what happened in 1978,” Curtis told Collider earlier this year. “That’s what the third movie ultimately is, a very powerful examination of violence. It comes at it from a slightly different way. You’ll like it… If you believe in me at all, I promise you what David Gordon Green has come up with as a way to complete this trilogy is sensational.”

Halloween Kills lands in theaters on October 16, 2020 with Halloween Ends set to follow on October 15, 2021.

Are you looking forward to the next two entries in the franchise? Sound off in the comments below!