10 Actors Who Returned To Save Dying Movie Franchises

10. Matt Damon - Jason Bourne

What on Earth were the producers thinking in creating a Jason Bourne film without the titular character? This is what bizarrely came to be with the development of the fourth film in the franchise, the Bourne Legacy. The casting of everyone's least favourite MCU actor Jeremy Renner in the lead role didn't exactly boost people's confidence in the product either.

Sure, Renner was serviceable as an operative who tried to take down the title character in the previous entry in the franchise, The Bourne Ultimatum, but there were no cries out from the fans demanding his appearance in future instalments. The Bourne Legacy wasn't awful, but it did seem largely pointless, with poor box office figures to boot.

Thankfully the logical decision was made to bring back Matt Damon to play his most famous role for the next entry, the blandly titled Jason Bourne. While never quite hitting the heights of the first three entries in the franchise, the film was a definite improvement on its predecessor in terms of the quality of the product and financial success.

Damon's ability to embrace the physicality of the role, including participating in some bare fist boxing, brought back the gritty warts and all feel from the original films, something sorely lacking in Renner's effort. This allowed for the creation of a general sense of foreboding synonymous with the series, and while the film didn't exactly cover new ground, the feel of it being a true Bourne film was back.