Kirby Reed is a fictional character in the Scream film series, created by Kevin Williamson and portrayed by Hayden Panettiere.

[1] In Scream 4, Reed is introduced as the best friend of franchise protagonist Sidney Prescott's young cousin, Jill Roberts, a millennial target for a copycat anniversary serial killer wearing the infamous Ghostface costume.

The character is a horror genre savvy, trivia fanatic with a dry sense of humor and sarcastic quip.

[2] Being the only unconfirmed victim of the Woodsboro Remake, Kirby was confirmed alive through a photographic cameo in the fifth entry, making her the sole teen survivor of the fourth film and a final girl.

[6] Kirby reappears in Scream VI, now an FBI special agent based in Atlanta who travels to New York to assist in the investigation into the latest Ghostface knockoff mystery.

Kirby's first appearance is in Scream 4 (2011) as the 18-year-old high school senior from the fictional town of Woodsboro, in Northern California.

The anniversary week of Billy Loomis (Skeet Ulrich) and Stu Macher (Matthew Lillard)'s original killing spree coincides with the murder of her classmates, Jenny Randall (Aimee Teegarden) and Marnie Cooper (Britt Robertson).

The venue takes place at an abandoned farm, where Gale Riley (Courteney Cox) is stabbed during the Casey Becker (Heather Graham) opening scene.

When they re-open, Charlie is duct-taped and rope-tied to a chair, like Steven Orth (Kevin Patrick Walls) in the original film's opening scene.

Kirby must save his life with horror trivia questions, a callback to Casey Becker (Drew Barrymore), also in the original scene, now taking place in the tentative climax.

Sidney later hears a noise from the basement before Charlie grabs her and takes her away to be confronted with the other killer, Kirby's best friend, Jill.

Dewey, Judy Hicks (Marley Shelton) and the remaining cops arrive; the victim-acting Jill mistakes Sidney and Kirby, both stabbed in the stomach twice, as being dead.

It is shown that Kirby and Samantha Carpenter are familiar with each other, both having attended Woodsboro High School together and have a friendly reunion at the NYPD station.

Detective Bailey then contacts Sam to inform her that Kirby was fired from the FBI months prior due to mental instability from her previous attack.

Once Bailey arrives at the scene, Kirby is shown to have been attacked again by another Ghostface killer, although Sam remains suspicious.

The casting call for Kirby characterized her as "Cute and quirky, was a tomboy until a year ago, now she's alternative, cool and sexy.

[11] In an interview promoting the film, director Wes Craven praised Panettiere's performance as Kirby, working under a supporting cast member role and said, "Hayden is a real powerhouse.

"[15] In an October 2011 interview, Wes Craven discussed Kirby's uncertain fate following the film's release in April.

He revealed actress Hayden Panettiere had a no-kill clause in her contract, and further stated that she did not die on-screen, as she "kept moving on the ground", but also expressed uncertainty on the development of a fifth film.

She was still moving when we cut away from her..."[17] Craven passed away in August 2015, and the fate of the franchise went into limbo following the dissolution of The Weinstein Company.

[18] In March 2020, it was announced that Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett would direct the fifth installment, with Kevin Williamson serving as an executive producer, and that the film had already entered official development.

"[16] For Tilt Magazine, Sarah Truesdale reviewed Scream 4 on its ten-year anniversary, and referred to Panettiere as Kirby being "easily the best part of the film,".

[20] She also expressed enthusiasm at the idea of Kirby reappearing in the franchise's future stating that after Panettiere spent "many years [...] post-Heroes and Scream in the very un-genre series Nashville [i]t would be nice to see her show back up in this realm again."

Germain Lussier for Gizmodo retroactively praised the film in a retrospective review and singled out Panettiere saying, "the kids throughout are wonderful, especially Hayden Panettiere—who spent many years post-Heroes and Scream in the very un-genre series Nashville.

[22] In a 2021 Fangoria article, Julieann Stipidis noted the importance of Kirby, stating, "The epitome of effortlessly cool, the chic, quick-witted, middle finger-flipping secondary character chewed her way through the scenery, showcasing an abundance of horror knowledge and enthusiasm – and becoming a favorite among women horror fans who had never before quite seen themselves depicted in the mainstream."

She further stated, "And exactly 10 years later to the day, we still haven’t really witnessed anything quite like a Kirby again", and noted the minimality of examples in similar characters introduced later in the 2010s.