Fans of Jack Bauer may finally be reunited with their favorite CTU agent as Fox has tentative plans to tell his origin story. The network that started the hit series back in the early 2000’s will be giving the Kiefer Sutherland lead show the prequel treatment. But the thing to focus on is the shows original creators are attempting to bring 24 back, and its about time.
The popular action series that takes place in real time over the course of a 24 hour period consisting of 24 pulse pounding episodes, was started in 2001 and ran until 2010 with Sutherland starring as the infamous Jack Bauer. Then in 2014 the show was brought back with the same premise except with a different lead. Kong: Skull Island and Straight Outta Compton star Corey Hawkins became the star of the series renamed 24: Legacy. The main difference here is that there was only 12 episodes and there was a 12 hour time jump in the season finale. This actually ended up being the series finale as Fox cancelled the show. Fans were left without any 24 in their lives, until now.
Sources have told The Hollywood Reporter that the next installment in the 24 franchise will be an ongoing series rather then a standalone like previous iterations. This new version of 24 will tell the origin story of how Jack Bauer became Jack Bauer. Joel Surnow and Bob Cochran are working on an story along with executive producer Howard Gordon. Dana Walden, 20th Century Fox Television co-president, said the network and studio were in early talks with producers for what they dubbed a “really exciting idea” that was “very compelling.” The goal is to keep the show’s “ticking clock” and sense of urgency and real-time storytelling and to apply it to something else.
24 was a major success and brought Kiefer Sutherland to major TV stardom overnight. The hit series shocked the world when it beat HBO’s The Sopranos to win the Emmy for best drama in 2006. The series that is loved by fans has received some controversy for the violence and constant use of torture tactics. The hit Fox series also saw its main character kick the bucket a few times for his country only to be revived a few minutes later. He has also been imprisoned for years on end as well as losing his entire family. All this makes the idea of a prequel series so intriguing and it will very interesting to see how this CTU agent that defied the odds so many times and saved the world form catastrophe became Jack Bauer.
As of right now, the 24 prequel series is still in development, but there had been rumors in May that Fox could launch the new installment for midseason.