I Know What You Did Last Summer is confirming what I, and many others, have long suspected about the slasher franchise. The upcoming 2025 film follows the basic format of a legacy sequel, introducing a brand-new cast that includes Madelyn Cline, Chase Sui Wonders, Jonah Hauer-King, Tyrig Withers, and Sarah Pidgeon – while bringing back original I Know What You Did Last Summer cast members Jennifer Love Hewitt and Freddie Prinze Jr., who reprise their roles as Julie James and Ray Bronson. However, the return of these characters may seem to conflict with the endings of the first two films.
The original I Know What You Did Last Summer (1997) ends one year after Julie, Ray, and their friends are terrorized by the hook-wielding killer, Ben (Muse Watson), in Southport. While attending college in Boston, Julie is taking a shower when a shadowy figure suddenly bursts through the door, causing her to scream before cutting to black. The 1998 sequel, I Still Know What You Did Last Summer, ends similarly, as, sometime later, Julie and Ray are married and living together. While they are getting ready for bed, Ben grabs Julie and drags her underneath, leaving her ultimate fate a mystery.
I Know What You Did Last Summer Canon Update Confirms The Last Two Movies’ Endings Weren’t Real
Co-Writer/Director Jennifer Kaytin Robinson Confirmed In An Interview
In a recent interview, I Know What You Did Last Summer co-writer/director Jennifer Kaytin Robinson explained how the legacy characters Julie and Ray are still alive, despite the previous implications that they had been killed. Robinson explained that the final scenes in the first two films “live outside the canon,” and confirmed that Julie and Ray are “both alive and well,” and by bringing them back, they are simply continuing the franchise tradition of retconning its endings. Read Robinson’s full explanation below:
So the way that I’ve approached the franchise is that I feel like those final scenes in the first two movies live outside the canon, because in the first movie she gets attacked through the shower, through the glᴀss door, and in the second movie, she gets pulled under the bed. So they’re both alive and well, and what I will say is that we have continued the tradition in our film.
Robinson’s comments confirm what many have theorized about the final scenes in the first two films. After being attacked in the shower at the end of the first, the beginning of the second reveals that Julie is suffering from recurring nightmares, confirming that the ending was just a dream. Ever since the upcoming I Know What You Did Last Summer was announced, it was ᴀssumed it would take a similar approach regarding the second film’s ending, retconning it as a dream sequence to keep with the tradition of the franchise.
A direct-to-video sequel, I’ll Always Know What You Did Last Summer, was released in 2006 without any of the original cast returning.
By retconning the second film’s ending, the upcoming legacy sequel could also change another key element. I Still Know What You Did Last Summer‘s ending depicts Julie and Ray as married and living together. If that final scene isn’t canon, as Robinson confirms, their marriage likely never occurred. This is hinted at by the fact that the two characters are never shown together in the I Know What You Did Last Summer trailer. This likely means the legacy sequel will begin with them apart, with their romance being gradually rekindled throughout the story.
I Know What You Did Last Summer Retconning The Previous Endings Is The Best Move
It Works Better If Those Endings Didn’t Happen
The upcoming legacy sequel retconning the previous endings is simply the best move. It works better if those two endings didn’t happen and can be treated as dream sequences rather than canon events. It would be very difficult to explain how Julie survived after being attacked in the shower, and again after being pulled under the bed by Ben. By treating these scenes as dream sequences rather than canon events, the franchise frees itself from the burden of explaining them.
Retconning the endings as dream sequences also helps develop Julie’s character in a meaningful way. Viewing the terrifying endings as manifestations of her lingering trauma reinforces how haunted she is by Ben and the killings. Her nightmares represent her inability to feel safe, even years later, and turn her fear into an important recurring theme. Rather than undermining the endings, retconning them as dream sequences actually elevates the psychological weight of Julie’s story in I Know What You Did Last Summer.
