Our mission at SAW is to foster conversations about this thing we all love (or love to hate): film/TV. Many of our features are designed with you in mind. Your opinions, to be more to the point. You have ’em. We want to hear ’em.
Question of the Day (QOTD) is exactly what it sounds like. It’s a film/TV-related question that we put to you, the reader. The comments section below is like the feedback box at work; except, in this example, we actually read what you write and care about what you have to say.
Many popular movie characters have been brought back in recent years.
So, the question I ask today is: Has bringing back the “Legacy Character” ever felt warranted or justified?
Throughout the 2010s, there were a lot of movie characters who had first appeared in the 1980’s who were brought back for new installments of their popular franchises. A few notable examples would be: Han Solo (Harrison Ford) was brought back for Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015), Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis) was brought back for another Halloween trilogy (2018-2022), and the T-800 (Arnold Schwarzenegger) was brought back for both Terminator: Genisys (2015) and Terminator: Dark Fate (2019).
Han Solo had his story continue and conclude in The Force Awakens. Whereas for the latter two characters, it was decided that the multiple sequels in their “respected” franchises would be ignored for the sake of continuing their stories from their first and/or second installments. However, most of these new sequels wouldn’t be so warmly received either.
Which begs the question; was there a point in giving these old characters new adventures?
Last week, it was confirmed that Michael Keaton would be returning as Beetlejuice for a sequel planned for 2024. He is also reprising his role as Batman in The Flash movie later this summer. The debate isn’t whether or not Michael Keaton is going to give a great performance in both movies. Of course, he is. But at the same time, it’s hard to imagine that a Beetlejuice 2 is something that anybody is asking for. Old character. New adventure.
So what about you, screenagers? Has bringing back the “Legacy Character” ever felt warranted or justified?
I’ll see you in the trenches.