# Back from the dead for a sequel **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** movies\ **Created:** [May 16, 2025, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/back-from-the-dead-for-a-sequel/1018425 "2025-05-16T00:39:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2025, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/back-from-the-dead-for-a-sequel/1018425/61 "2025-05-19T14:51:27Z")
> [@digs](#): > > David Cross thought he’d made sure that he’d never have to be Todd Margaret again Ellen Ripley has already been mentioned but this reminded me that Weaver made Ripley’s death a condition for her to return for Alien3 because she didn’t want to be doing Aliens movies her whole career. She assumed killing off the character would cap off her involvement with the franchise. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2025, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/back-from-the-dead-for-a-sequel/1018425/62 "2025-05-19T15:34:32Z")
There is also the Kiri/Grace thing in _Avatar._ Grace dies and so does her avatar but the avatar body gives birth. Is Kiri Grace? Is she a natural clone? Something else? Kiri, Grace and Grace’s avatar are all played by Sigorney Weaver. ---
**Author:** ![garygnu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garygnu/32/2924_2.png) [@garygnu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garygnu)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2025, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/back-from-the-dead-for-a-sequel/1018425/63 "2025-05-20T18:25:20Z")
That’s not even the only instance in _The Way of Water_. They couldn’t top Stephen Lang, so they just brought him back. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2025, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/back-from-the-dead-for-a-sequel/1018425/64 "2025-05-21T02:34:54Z")
One character people have mistakenly thought belonged in this group is Groot. They thought the Groot who died in _Guardians of the Galaxy_ returned in the subsequent movies as a clone. This is wrong. The original Groot died and did not return. The character we’ve seen in the subsequent movies is the child of the original Groot. Gamora, on the other hand, came back from the dead. ---
**Author:** ![garygnu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garygnu/32/2924_2.png) [@garygnu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garygnu)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2025, 4:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/back-from-the-dead-for-a-sequel/1018425/65 "2025-05-21T04:20:14Z")
Has nobody mentioned Obi-Wan Kenobi yet? ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2025, 12:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/back-from-the-dead-for-a-sequel/1018425/66 "2025-05-21T12:31:06Z")
Kevin Pollack’s character died in _The Whole Nine Yards._ Pollack has a long story about it but the gist is both him and Bruce Willis agreed that Michael Clarke Duncan was an asshole. Duncan didn’t return for the sequel. They brought back Pollack as an identical cousin. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2025, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/back-from-the-dead-for-a-sequel/1018425/67 "2025-05-21T13:08:48Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > One character people have mistakenly thought belonged in this group is Groot. They thought the Groot who died in _Guardians of the Galaxy_ returned in the subsequent movies as a clone. > > This is wrong. The original Groot died and did not return. The character we’ve seen in the subsequent movies is the child of the original Groot. > > Gamora, on the other hand, came back from the dead. Sorry, but you’re wrong on both counts. The revived Groot was neither a clone nor a child - he was a _cutting_. Plant, remember? And the original Gamora stayed dead; the one in the third movie was the Gamora from the alternate timeline created by Nebula and Rhodey. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2025, 1:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/back-from-the-dead-for-a-sequel/1018425/68 "2025-05-21T13:12:27Z")
You get the impression that **Captain Nemo** died when the _Nautilus_ went down in the Maelstrom at the end of _Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea_, but (as Doyle said of Sherlock Holmes) “no one had pronounced on the remains”, so he was free to bring Nemo and the _Nautilus_ back for _The Mysterious Island_. He didn’t bring the rest of the crew back though. Presumably any survivors managed to the the _Nautilus_ to what would later be named Lincoln Island and died there, or left. He made a botch of the Chronology, however – you can’t construct a workable timeline that had Arronax on board the _Nautilus_ from 1866-1868 (in _20,000 Leagues_) and then have him as an elderly man on a crippled _Nautilus_ from 1865-1869 ( in _Mysterious Island_ ) In some cases they clearly wanted to kill off a character, but had second thoughts later on and rescued the character for sequels, or for sentimentality. Colin Clive’s **Henry Frankenstein** is depicted in shots at the end of _Bride of Frankenstein_ as being in the laboratory when the monster throws the switch that “blows them all to atoms”, so they were clearly going to get rid of him, too. But they added new scenes showing him escaping with his bride before the lethal moment, urged on (in an unexplained change of heart) by the monster. Colin Clive never did re-appear as Henry. He died two years later at the young age of 27. No one else reprised the role, except for a blurry portrayal of his “ghost” in _Ghost of Frankenstein_ James Gunn had originally planned to kill off the character **Peacekeeper** at the end of _The Suicide Squad_, but then came up with a TV series based on the character, so they changed the ending of the movie and added some extra scenes. ---
**Author:** ![BlankSlate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blankslate/32/80_2.png) [@BlankSlate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlankSlate)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2025, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/back-from-the-dead-for-a-sequel/1018425/69 "2025-05-21T13:17:03Z")
Neo and Trinity came back from the dead to make _The Matrix Resurrections_. Or maybe they didn’t. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2025, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/back-from-the-dead-for-a-sequel/1018425/70 "2025-05-21T15:13:43Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > Sorry, but you’re wrong on both counts. The revived Groot was neither a clone nor a child - he was a _cutting_. Plant, remember? And the original Gamora stayed dead; the one in the third movie was the Gamora from the alternate timeline created by Nebula and Rhodey. Yes, I’ve seen the movies. Gamora was dead. And now she’s alive. That’s coming back from the dead. In this case, time travel was involved but you’re going to have to use some unusual means to bring somebody back from the dead. As for Groot, James Gunn has gone on record saying the new Groot is the son of the old Groot. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2025, 6:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/back-from-the-dead-for-a-sequel/1018425/71 "2025-05-22T06:09:45Z")
While I’ll concede that in Gunn’s universe, a cutting of a sentient plant counts as its child, one of the main plot points of the third movie was that the “new” Gamora was a completely different person than the “old” Gamora and would never replace her. If you found out that you had a doppelganger, and they died, would you suddenly consider yourself to be “them” back from the dead? Of course not. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2025, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/back-from-the-dead-for-a-sequel/1018425/72 "2025-05-22T14:30:59Z")
Gamora is not a completely different person. She’s the same person as the Gamora that Quill knew except she had missed the last nine years due to time travel. (And Quill himself had missed the last five of those years.) ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2025, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/back-from-the-dead-for-a-sequel/1018425/73 "2025-05-22T14:33:59Z")
So a person splits in two, one of them dies and the other one doesn’t, then the one who doesn’t die is the other one back from the dead? ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2025, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/back-from-the-dead-for-a-sequel/1018425/74 "2025-05-22T14:50:07Z")
> [@Jophiel](#): > > because she didn’t want to be doing Aliens movies her whole career. I didn’t know Hollywood could force you to work. “Just Say No!” > [@garygnu](#): > > Has nobody mentioned Obi-Wan Kenobi yet? Oh he’s not dead. (look coyly up at the sky) Well… not yet. ---
**Author:** ![Great\_Antibob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47c2d/32.png) [@Great\_Antibob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Great_Antibob)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2025, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/back-from-the-dead-for-a-sequel/1018425/75 "2025-05-22T15:10:30Z")
There was the case of Brent Spiner’s character in the (atrocious) Independence Day sequel. He was very killed in the first one, but I think they offhanded said he was just in a very long coma and never mentioned it again. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2025, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/back-from-the-dead-for-a-sequel/1018425/76 "2025-05-22T15:25:30Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > I didn’t know Hollywood could force you to work. No, but it can tempt you. It’s actually pretty famous for it. ---
**Author:** ![Jasmine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jasmine/32/2964_2.png) [@Jasmine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jasmine)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2025, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/back-from-the-dead-for-a-sequel/1018425/77 "2025-05-22T15:30:39Z")
“The Exorcist”, 1973, and “The Exorcist: Believer”, 2023. I’d say 50 years is back from the dead. ---
**Author:** ![Lare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/53a042/32.png) [@Lare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lare)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2025, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/back-from-the-dead-for-a-sequel/1018425/78 "2025-05-22T15:53:39Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > I didn’t know Hollywood could force you to work. Actually they can if you are under contract to a studio. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2025, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/back-from-the-dead-for-a-sequel/1018425/79 "2025-05-22T15:59:05Z")
> [@Lare](#): > > Actually they can if you are under contract to a studio. The Studio System has been dead for decades. However, yes, if an actor signs a “three picture deal” then they are obligated. But then, they signed that contract. They knew what they were doing. It’s not like she signed a contract “You will play Ripley forever.” ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2025, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/back-from-the-dead-for-a-sequel/1018425/80 "2025-05-22T16:06:20Z")
And even then all they could do would be sue an actor for a hell of a lot of money. Occasionally actors have bitten the bullet and paid rather than perform in something they loathe. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/back-from-the-dead-for-a-sequel/1018425.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/back-from-the-dead-for-a-sequel/1018425.md?page=5)