After the news broke last week, that Tony Gilroy (the man who has written all of the Bourne films so far) would be directed the fourth movie in the Bourne franchise, the biggest question on the mind of every fan, was whether or not Matt Damon (Green Zone) would be returning to the role of super-spy/ex-assassin Jason Bourne, or not; a question that has now received a definitive answer.
Damon; who played the role of the betrayed, amnesiac, assassin Jason Bourne in The Bourne Identity, The Bourne Supremacy, and The Bourne Ultimatum; will not be reprising his previous role in the new movie, and even more surprisingly (Damon’s absence isn’t a total shock as he stated after the release of Ultimatum that he was only willing to return to the character if the story was worthwhile and served the world well) the role isn’t being re-cast; because Jason Bourne (the character) will not be making an appearance in the new film.
The move to expel the franchise’s central character is a slightly odd one (especially seen as how it’s due to be titled The Bourne Legacy), but director Tony Gilroy seems confident in his decision to not continue following Jason’s path, or follow the Bourne Legacy novel (which featured Jason getting involved with a group of Chechen terrorists, and a bacteriological weapon); as he states this his film is going to utilize a “completely original screenplay” which he has written, to create “a whole new chapter in the story.”
Gilroy’s also stressed that although “there will be a whole new hero, this is not a reboot”, and that it’s simply a continuation of what’s gone before, as he’s using the events of the first three Bourne films to create “the trigger for The Bourne Legacy”, and will be “building a wider conspiracy, that invites Jason Bourne’s reappearance somewhere down the road.”
So as far as answering fans that were desperate to know if Matt Damon would be back or not, the latest news can be summed up with a pretty definitive ‘maybe’; there’s practically zero chance of him appearing in Gilroy’s Legacy, but should that film do well enough, and get a sequel green-lit that appropriately welcomes Jason back into the fold, Matt might, possibly, consider popping on an inconspicuous overcoat, and grabbing a sniper rifle, once again.
