Those who've been hoping for a follow-up to the 2008 action film Wanted to be pleased to know that a script is in the works. In fact, Wanted screenwriter Derek Haas and his writing partner Michael Brandt are preparing to submit the second draft for the sequel's script. But, if you were hoping the sequel would bring back Angelina Jolie's character Fox, you may be in for a disappointment.
It should go without saying that references made going forward will include spoilers from the Timur Bekmambetov's 2008 action thriller Wanted (loosely based on Mark Millar's comic series by the same name), as it's unlikely you're all that interested in sequel news if you haven't seen the original film. With that said, consider yourselves spoiler warned from this point forward.
The end of Wanted saw Angelina Jolie making a quick and clean job of honoring the code by taking out the previously named assassins with one curving bullet. Her brain was the last one the bullet penetrated. From what screenwriter Derek Haas told Hollywood.com, it doesn't sound like he has any intention of bringing Fox back to life.
"Angelina Jolie gets shot in the head and everyone's like, 'Oh, are you going to bring back Fox?' I said, 'Did you see the bullet go into her head?' And they say, 'Oh, she can take one of those milk baths!' We never wanted to do that movie."
Of course, a prequel could bring Fox back, but it doesn't sound like Haas and Brandt want to look back. In fact, it's been four years since the first movie released and their goal is to take the story to that point, picking up four years after the events of the first film with Wesley in the driver's seat and a new recruit at his side.
"The only thing I can tell you is that Wesley [James McAvoy] is now, four years later, recruiting a young woman who is in his situation in the first movie. She's got a sh**ty life. He's sort of in the Fox role. This new girl is brought into the world."
A set-up like that certainly has potential. For one thing, it doesn't need to undo the progress Wesley's made as a character in the first movie. In Wanted, he starts out as a miserable nobody, and ends up an intentional nobody with a purpose. From what Haas says, it sounds like they're looking to revisit that general concept with a new character - and a female one. That in itself opens up a world of casting possibilities. Who could be brought in to play the next Wesley? And how will the actual Wesley do as the Fox in the scenario.
