The long-awaited “24” reboot is happening. Sh*t just got real.
In 2014, fans of the popular American TV series were treated to a special 12-episode season called, “24: Live Another Day”. It was hard to get over after the season wrapped, considering the fact that the final episode of season 8 (which concluded the original series) aired back in 2010.
Identifying with the demand from “24” fans, the good people at 20th Century Fox Television then dropped another surprise when they confirmed that “24” will indeed have a spin-off, “24: Legacy”. While that was glorious news for many, alas, it will not feature the espionage agent, Jack Bauer (played by Kiefer Sutherland).
Which means..a brand new cast for the franchise.
A couple of days ago, TVLine confirmed that actor Corey Hawkins (“Straight Outta Compton”, “The Walking Dead”) has landed the starring role in “24: Legacy”. Hawkins will portray male lead Eric Carter, a strong and smart former Army Ranger who finds himself pulled back into action as his past comes looking for him.
He eventually turns to CTU for help in saving his life and stopping what potentially could be one of the largest-scale terror attacks on American soil.
A separate report from Deadline confirmed that a female lead has been cast and she’s none other than Australia-born actress Miranda Otto, who terrorism-drama enthusiasts might recognise from “Homeland”. She’ll be playing Rebecca Ingram, a former leader of CTU, the counter-terrorism unit that Bauer worked at/was intermittently hunted down by throughout the original series.
Now married to Senator John Donovan, Rebecca is struggling with second thoughts about having left the counterterrorism agency.
As for the plot, Fox co-chairman and CEO Dana Walden revealed that there will be a time jump and a new organisation, and that it’ll be “a completely different story”. “It’s a contemporary story about the potential to activate sleeper cells in the United States. There are nods in the pilot to prior CTU agents, but no ongoing characters,” she added.
Unfortunately, Kiefer Sutherland is in no way involved, but he did leave a positive “parting note” for the revival:
I have said from the beginning that the real star of “24” is the idea, and I mean that wholeheartedly. I have every faith they’ll do something cool and clever.
“24: Legacy” is executive produced by Howard Gordon, Coto, Katz and Brian Grazer through 20th Century Fox TV, Imagine TV, and Gordon’s Teakwood Lane Productions. It is technically just a pilot for now, but we’ll get more details e.g. production, expected air date in time to come.
Sources: Deadline, The Verge, TVLine / Featured image from geek.com.
