10 Movie Sequels That Lost The Main Characters

8. Sicario 2: Soldado

Who Disappeared? Kate Macer (Emily Blunt)

After the first Sicario was critically acclaimed and made reasonable money at the box office, Lionsgate commissioned a sequel that was eventually described as a stand-alone spin-off, focused primarily on Benicio Del Toro's menacing character from the original. Initially, Del Toro, Josh Brolin and Emily Blunt were all confirmed to return, but by the time the film made it to screen, Blunt had dropped out of the cast.

Instead, focus shifted more to Del Toro as the main character, with Brolin still working as his CIA handler.

Why She Didn't Return

This one came down to a writing decision. Speaking to The Wrap, screenwriter Taylor Sheridan said: “Her arc was complete … I couldn’t figure out a way to write a character that would do her talent justice. Look what she went through. It was a difficult role. Here I write this lead character and then I use her as a surrogate for the audience."

Bringing her back would have made Sheridan change the character, who had represented our passivity as the audience and the impotence felt by law enforcement:

“What do you do next? She moves to some little town and becomes a sheriff and then gets kidnapped and then we have Taken? I had to tell the story that was true to this role, and I didn’t feel like I could create something with that character that would further that world that would do Emily’s character justice. That said, there could be room for [her character] somewhere else down the road.”