Currently there are two entirely different ‘Bourne’ franchises in the works in Hollywood. The first is the actual Bourne series (let’s call it Bourne Classic), with Matt Damon returning to the role of mentally-scarred super-spy Jason Bourne alongside director Paul Greengrass. The second is the sequel to 2012’s ‘The Bourne Legacy’ (a.k.a. Diet Bourne), which kept the franchise alive after Damon and Greengrass left by replacing Bourne with Jeremy Renner’s Aaron Cross, another traumatized government operative on the run. Universal previously planned to continue Cross’ adventures in a sequel directed by Justin Lin, but when Damon and Greengrass recently announced they would return for another ‘Bourne’ film (due in theaters on July 29, 2016) the second Cross movie was delayed.

The plan now, at least publicly, is for Damon and Greengrass to do ‘Bourne 5’ (New Bourne? Bourne Zero? The soda metaphor sort of breaks down at this point.), followed by Renner’s ‘Bourne Legacy 2’ (a.k.a. Crystal Bourne). But these two characters, Bourne and Cross, theoretically occupy the same fictional universe. Damon and Renner are both big names. So why not stick Renner’s Cross into Damon’s Bourne movie? It’d give ‘Bourne 5’ some star power, and it’s give the second ‘Legacy’ movie a bit of a boost in profile and relevancy.

That’s just my opinion though, and, as of this date, no one involved in the ‘Bourne’ franchise has come to me asking for my opinion. (The fools!) In fact, the guy who is in charge of ‘Bourne,’ producer Frank Marshall, just spoke with Collider about the franchise and he says we shouldn’t hold our breath for any kind of Cross-over with Bourne. (Get it? Cross-over. Oh God, I need more coffee.) His quote:

We don’t have plans for that. You never know. I never say never. But that’s not the plan. They’re on separate tracks.

My question for Marshall: What is the point of an Aaron Cross on a “separate track” from Jason Bourne? Aaron Cross’ movie was called ‘The Bourne Legacy,’ and it was mostly about, well, Jason Bourne’s legacy. The only way that Cross character has any relevance at all is in his tenuous connection to Bourne. If they really don’t meet (or maybe become antagonists, which would be kind of cool), why even continue the Cross franchise? It was designed to keep the property alive while waiting for Damon and Greengrass to return. Now they have. To put it another way: Once they brought back Coca-Cola Classic, they didn’t keep New Coke around for very long.

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