Kiefer Sutherland has let the world know that he is open to revisiting his iconic 24 role, Jack Bauer, as the character’s story still feels “unresolved.” The topic was broached in a GQ Magazine Q&A.
“I miss it. It was an incredible experience,” said Bauer of the long-running Fox drama. “I have learned that you’re just better off not to be definitive about your answer of whether you will do something or not do something. I love playing that character. I do believe the story is unresolved. If something were to be written that made sense to me and that I thought was going to contribute to the franchise then I would be behind it, even if my participation in that were to be limited.”
Sutherland’s answer is not necessarily idle introspection. As recently as September 2021, Fox announced it was in “active creative discussions” to revive the series. The original series ran for nine seasons and also expanded into a film, which is a mighty long time for a series of 24-hour periods to last.
However, any franchise revivals will likely be far more susceptible to criticism or outright resistance of a pro-torture work. The original show premiered on November 6, 2001–mere weeks after the 9/11 attacks–and would land differently with contemporary viewers likely to be far more critical of a franchise so historically steeped in racially problematic stories.
Of this time and the events leading up to the show’s premiere, Sutherland told GQ that he and “everybody on the show” felt ambivalent. “Nobody wanted anything coming close to representing this awful thing we just watched happen,” Sutherland said. “Having said that, the country felt very differently. Even if it was just a television show and a guy fighting back, that’s what they wanted. So that’s what we did.”
