24: How Kiefer Sutherland wanted Jack Bauer to bow out

With ‘24′ star Kiefer Sutherland bowing out of the gripping TV series, showruuner Howard Gordon has spoken about where the actor believed his character should’ve ended up.

***Warning: 24: Live Another Day spoilers ahead***

Debuting way back in 2001, ‘24′, the real-time series about CTU’s Jack Bauer (Sutherland) who races against time to prevent terrorism and disaster, has had a surprisingly long run, culminating in eight seasons (2001-10); 2014 spin-off ‘24: Live Another Day’; and upcoming reboot ‘24: Legacy’.

During an interview with Variety, Gordon says that Sutherland wanted his role to cease in a very different way to what fans ended up seeing:

“Kiefer [Sutherland] actually wanted Jack Bauer to die, and we had many conversations about it… many of us, including his agent, tried to talk him out of it, but then there was an edict from very high up [within Fox] and Jack Bauer is still alive.”

It’s interesting to hear of the extreme opposite of opinions between the show’s makers and its lead star, and that Sutherland’s wishes were ultimately overruled by a greater power. As we know, Bauer was last seen being taken away to a Russian prison in ‘Live Another Day’, with a rather ambiguous and uncertain conclusion for our hero.

Gordon also shared how the legendary character could still come back, albeit not as the series star but likely in a cameo of sorts. Not only that, but Jack Bauer’s affirmed himself as a hugely influential TV character:

“Jack Bauer has cast a very long and powerful shadow……. Carrie Mathison [Claire Danes’ character in ‘Homeland’] was born out of Jack Bauer. So was Corey’s character. We are fishing in the same pond for stories. Jack Bauer is the atom.”

Killing off Bauer would have certainly offered some sort of closure for the actor and indeed for fans who could close that chapter on the franchise, as they move on with new faces in the ‘Legacy’ reboot that stars Corey Hawkins (as mentioned in the above quote), Miranda Otto (’Homeland’), Jimmy Smits (’Sons Of Anarchy’), and Teddy Sears (’The Flash’).

‘24: Legacy’ airs in February, 2017.

Did you want to see Jack Bauer killed off? Share your thoughts in the comments…

Mike P Williams is a freelance TV, film and entertainment writer, with an obsession for all things Game of Thrones, Jurassic Park and Pixar. Over the years he’s written for the likes of MTV, Total Film, BuzzFeed, and Yahoo Movies UK.

Picture credit: Fox