For eight seasons, Kiefer Sutherland’s Jack Bauer served as the ideal post-9/11 action hero on 24, foiling terrorists and generally saving the world in just one day. When the show ended in 2010, it seemed as if viewers would have to say goodbye forever to the series and its iconic lead character.
Of course, FOX network brought the show back last year for the limited series 24: Live Another Day (read our review), leaving a speck of hope that Sutherland could return as Bauer on a more regular basis. Recent reports have indicated that this isn’t the case, with FOX contemplating a spinoff featuring a new lead. Now Sutherland himself has weighed in on the possibility that he’ll be back for more 24.
Deadline recently caught up with the actor and touched base on whether he’d return for another run of episodes. Here’s what he had to say:
“I’m not coming back to do 24 because there are other things I want to do. And when they said limited-series run, I meant it. But I’ve always felt, from Season 1 on, that 24 is such a great idea that this can go on forever. I think if you create a new cast or other characters in the telling of this story, it will bring a freshness. And let’s face it there’s only so many bad days one can have before the show becomes a mad comic. And what I don’t want it to be is a mad comic…it doesn’t rule out to one having a cameo.”
While the show arguably may have gone too far in portraying Bauer as having near-superhuman survival skills, Sutherland does have a point. There’s only so many times his character can walk away from such large-scale disasters without 24 losing its suspense and impact on viewers. Jack Bauer may have become an incredibly popular character, but what truly made the show unique was its real-time approach to storytelling.
Fans are likely reassured that Sutherland sounds game for brief appearances on a prospective new series, which FOX could debut as early as 2016. After all, the man has spent eight years playing Bauer; it’s hardly fair to expect him to lock up his schedule with more of the same for the foreseeable future.
Interestingly, we’ve heard as early as last fall that there was still talk of adapting the show into a big-screen production, and one wonders where Sutherland stands on reprising his role in a shorter-term project such as this. In the meantime, fans better get used to a 24 without Jack Bauer.
Are you disappointed that Sutherland is largely finished with 24, or is it time for a new character to race against time? Sound off in the comments section below.
Stay tuned to Screen Rant for more on 24 as this story develops.
Of course, FOX network brought the show back last year for the limited series 24: Live Another Day (read our review), leaving a speck of hope that Sutherland could return as Bauer on a more regular basis. Recent reports have indicated that this isn’t the case, with FOX contemplating a spinoff featuring a new lead. Now Sutherland himself has weighed in on the possibility that he’ll be back for more 24.
Deadline recently caught up with the actor and touched base on whether he’d return for another run of episodes. Here’s what he had to say:
“I’m not coming back to do 24 because there are other things I want to do. And when they said limited-series run, I meant it. But I’ve always felt, from Season 1 on, that 24 is such a great idea that this can go on forever. I think if you create a new cast or other characters in the telling of this story, it will bring a freshness. And let’s face it there’s only so many bad days one can have before the show becomes a mad comic. And what I don’t want it to be is a mad comic…it doesn’t rule out to one having a cameo.”
While the show arguably may have gone too far in portraying Bauer as having near-superhuman survival skills, Sutherland does have a point. There’s only so many times his character can walk away from such large-scale disasters without 24 losing its suspense and impact on viewers. Jack Bauer may have become an incredibly popular character, but what truly made the show unique was its real-time approach to storytelling.
Fans are likely reassured that Sutherland sounds game for brief appearances on a prospective new series, which FOX could debut as early as 2016. After all, the man has spent eight years playing Bauer; it’s hardly fair to expect him to lock up his schedule with more of the same for the foreseeable future.
Interestingly, we’ve heard as early as last fall that there was still talk of adapting the show into a big-screen production, and one wonders where Sutherland stands on reprising his role in a shorter-term project such as this. In the meantime, fans better get used to a 24 without Jack Bauer.
Are you disappointed that Sutherland is largely finished with 24, or is it time for a new character to race against time? Sound off in the comments section below.
Stay tuned to Screen Rant for more on 24 as this story develops.