Wolf Jackson (Willem Dafoe) smirking in Beetlejuice 2

A new update for Beetlejuice Beetlejuice reveals further details about Willem Dafoe’s character. Following up on his hit 1988 film after decades, Tim Burton steps into the director’s seat again for Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, which continues the tale of the Deetz family. Beetlejuice Beetlejuice features a leading cast including Dafoe, Michael Keaton, Jenna Ortega, Monica Bellucci, Winona Ryder, Catherine O’Hara, Justin Theroux, Danny DeVito, and Burn Gorman.

Per Empire, new details have been revealed about Dafoe’s Beetlejuice Beetlejuice character. Dafoe’s character is named Wolf Jackson, a former actor who is now the head of the Afterlife Crimes Unit. Dafoe described the character as “not a normal role” and emphasized the importance of finding the right “tone” for the character.

It’s not a normal role. The most important thing for me was to find the tone. It had to be rooted but it also had to be free enough that you could play with it. I take my cue off of [Michael Keaton]. You take your cue off of the world.

How Dafoe’s Role Will Help Beetlejuice Beetlejuice

Dafoe Will Fit In With The Strange Appeal Already Established

Monica Bellucci as Delores looking up in Beetlejuice 2

Dafoe’s Wolf Jackson is one of the new characters that will be introduced in Beetlejuice Beetlejuice. The most notable returning character is Keaton’s Beetlejuice, but the film will also see Ryder reprise her role as Lydia, this time years older and now a mother. As Beetlejuice Beetlejuice traces the legacy of the Deetz family, it will be fascinating to see the intertwining of familiar faces from the ‘80s film with newer roles such as that of Astrid and Wolf.

A new ghost featured in Beetlejuice 2’s trailer may connect back to a character who died under tragic circumstances in Tim Burton’s original movie.

Though he is playing a new role, it seems Dafoe is careful not to reinvent the wheel. He wants to “take [his] cue off of” Keaton, whose outlandish stylings provide the idiosyncratic kinesis that Beetlejuice Beetlejuice needs to thrive. One cannot have a Beetlejuice movie without its titular oddball, so it is of the utmost importance that any new characters fit into the fold. Dafoe’s reports make it sound like he has taken the time to “find the tone” and nail this Beetlejuice Beetlejuice role.

Dafoe’s character will fit in with the general esthetics of the sequel film. One of the key aspects of the original was its over-the-top effects, something that the sequel film appears to have maintained according to the Beetlejuice Beetlejuice trailers. The look of Wolf Jackson is almost cartoonish in nature, which fits in smoothly with the playful esthetics of the film as a whole.