The Upcoming 24 Movie Can Finally Pay Off The Show’s Biggest Unfinished Jack Bauer Story

Summary

• The 24 movie has a chance to resolve Jack Bauer and Tony Almeida’s story, providing closure to their once close relationship.
• Almeida’s evolution into a dark character was driven by trauma and revenge, making him a complex and conflicted antihero.
• Kiefer Sutherland’s potential return as Jack Bauer in the 24 movie could provide fans with a satisfying conclusion to the series’ various unresolved plotlines.

The upcoming 24 movie has the chance to pay off one of the show’s biggest unresolved conflicts for Kiefer Sutherland’s Jack Bauer. 24 pioneered the use of the real-time format, with each episode representing an hour in a single, action-packed day. Both star Kiefer Sutherland and the producers once touted the real-time hook as the true star, but over the course of 24’s many seasons, it became clear Sutherland’s Bauer was irreplaceable. This was underlined when 2017 spinoff Legacy tried to replace Bauer with new lead Eric Carter (Corey Hawkins), but it just didn’t quite work.

Sutherland last played Jack in 2014 limited series Live Another Day, and for years afterward, claimed to be done with with the role. That vow will be tested thanks to the confirmation that 24 movie is incoming, though plot details are being kept under wraps. This wouldn’t be the first time there was an attempt to bring Jack to the big screen; A Good Day to Die Hard began as Die Hard 24/7, where Bauer and Bruce Willis’ McClane teamed up. There was also a solo movie version in development following the end of the original series in 2010.

The 24 Movie Needs To Resolve The Jack Bauer/Tony Almeida Story

24’s former besties must make peace or make war

24 killed many fan-favorite characters, with the most shocking being Jack’s wife Teri during the season 1 finale. One of the few characters to have survived from the first season to the end is Tony Almeida (Carlos Bernard), who became Jack’s most trusted ally and best friend. Tony appeared to die during season 5 but later returned for the seventh series as a more ambiguous figure. It was eventually revealed Tony had fully gone to the dark side, and after orchestrating terrorist attacks and trying to kill Jack, he was brought to justice.

While both Bauer and Tony returned for later seasons, the two never encountered each other following series seven. This was a missed opportunity, considering the two were once the best of pals. A later season could have teamed them as uneasy allies, or had them facing off again. The 24 movie has the chance to tie off this long unresolved relationship, and considering Almeida is one of the few OG characters still around, it wouldn’t be a bad idea to bring him back either.

Of course, a movie has less time to play around than a full 24 episode season would, so the Jack/Tony dynamic wouldn’t be the focus. Still, it would be great to see the two together again, and their reunion would no doubt be a tense affair considering the events of season 7.

Why Tony Almeida Turned Evil On 24

Day 5 was rough for the former CTU director

For the first couple of seasons, Tony rarely left the CTU offices and largely served as the guy briefing Jack when he was out on missions. Later series gave Tony more to do, including serving a stint in prison for compromising a mission to save his wife, Michelle (Reiko Aylesworth). 24 season 5 was especially ruthless when it came to offing beloved characters, with former President David Palmer (Dennis Haysbert), Michelle and Tony himself all dying during the day’s events.

Feeling profoundly bitter and betrayed, Tony became a mercenary intent on taking down the key players behind the conspiracy to avenge both his wife Michelle and their unborn child.

Of course, Tony’s death was only temporary, as his season 7 resurrection showed. Michelle and Palmer were both victims of a wide-ranging conspiracy within the American government that ran all the way to the White House itself. Feeling profoundly bitter and betrayed, Tony became a mercenary intent on taking down the key players behind this conspiracy to avenge both Michelle and their unborn child.

Despite his sympathetic motives, Tony’s willingness to kill innocents during 24’s seventh series proved he was too far gone to fully redeem. Almeida eventually returned for 2017’s Legacy, where he was portrayed as an ethically questionable antihero, instead of a true villain. While this short-lived spinoff didn’t redeem his past misdeeds, it at least showed there was some humanity remaining inside Almeida.

Will Kiefer Sutherland Return For The 24 Movie?

Sutherland has appeared more open to a 24 return in recent years

The series will celebrate its 24th anniversary in 2025, so that would feel like the best time for a movie to arrive. The biggest question is whether Kiefer Sutherland will return as Bauer, which has yet to be confirmed. The star was a key part of why the series worked, so it would be a risk not to bring him back in some capacity. Live Another Day’s finale saw Bauer trading himself to save his other longtime ally Chloe (Mary Lynn Rajskub) from the Russians, with the ending seeing him helicoptered off to an unknown fate.

Kiefer Sutherland also voiced Jack Bauer in 2006’s
24: The Game
.

Sutherland has appeared more open to a 24 return in recent years, stating to GQ in 2022 that “I do believe the story is unresolved.” Sutherland also said if a script was written that made sense to him, he’d be willing to play Jack Bauer again, even in a limited capacity. Hopefully, the 24 movie screenplay will have that great story he’s looking for.

Source: GQ/YouTube