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Corey Hawkins In, Kiefer Sutherland Out: Eric Carter Replacing Jack Bauer On ’24: Legacy’ Reboot

By Shaunee Flowers
Published on: 11:05 PST, Jan 26, 2016

The Fox superhit 24 is coming back in a reboot that might surprise fans. Corey Hawkins was cast as the lead in 24: Legacy and will be replacing Jack Bauer with a new character, Eric Carter. The rebooted 24 will take place in the future, and while fans are understandably upset with the replacement of Jack Bauer, the original director and producer Jon Cassar has commented on his excitement over the new series and the reason why fans should be excited too.

Corey Hawkins will be taking over for Kiefer Sutherland in the upcoming reboot 24: Legacy, according to Design & Trend. Naturally, fans of the original series, the 2008 film, and even the 2014 reboot 24: Live Another Day are upset that Kiefer Sutherland won’t be back for the newest edition of the Fox hit. Many have tweeted their displeasure over the casting and the direction of the upcoming 24: Legacy. The upset is so great that the original director and producer of the first seven seasons of 24 has spoken out in defense of the reboot.

Jon Cassar has made it clear that he isn’t involved in the upcoming 24: Legacy but he isn’t counting the series out. Cassar tweeted, “I urge all of you to give #24Legacy a chance. Don’t dismiss it yet. Its a new chapter. Its OK to love Jack Bauer & still try something new.” Cassar didn’t stop there and it looks like the previous producer and director is having a hard time convincing the die-hard 24 fans that replacing Jack Bauer is definitely not the end of the world and might even benefit the franchise.

While some may not recognize Corey Hawkins, others are excited to see the former The Walking Dead actor find a new home on TV. In addition to a short stint on TWD that many wished had been longer, Hawkins is also riding high on the success of the critically acclaimed Straight Outta Compton. Hawkins portrayed Dr. Dre in the autobiographical film about the rap group N.W.A.

As fans of the original continue to complain about the casting and new direction of what may be considered a spinoff rather than a reboot, Cassar continued to plead with fans on Twitter about why a new story won’t kill off the franchise. “For 10 years, 204 hours and a TV movie we gave you great storytelling & surprised you every week & I’m sure theres more to come,” Cassar tweeted. “You should also know at this point I’m not involved with the reboot so I’m just as eager to see where Howard and the boys take it.”

As for the obvious fan favorite characters, Cassar was quick to point out that there is still a possibility for them to make appearances. “And as far as characters you love – as long as they’re still alive they can always appear in the 24 universe – or not – we’ll see,” Cassar continued to argue in favor of the new show. “And for all those wondering what happened to Jack, there’s, at least, a chance to find out with #24Legacy as opposed to no 24 ever again.”

Many fans cited their disinterest in the new Fox offering, claiming that if Kiefer Sutherland isn’t involved, they are not interested. Others seemed upset by the choice of replacement. Others were upset that Jon Cassar wouldn’t be directing. It seems that most fans have a host of complaints about the upcoming 24: Legacy for some reason or another. Of course, there were a handful of hopeful die-hard fans who are hoping Cassar is right and that we’ll all find out what happened to Jack Bauer through the new version of the show.

It wouldn’t be too far-fetched for Jack Bauer to show up at some point along the way during 24: Legacy and be instrumental in saving everyone rather than just being replaced by another actor in a cookie-cutter spinoff. The series is called Legacy after all and we’re talking about Jack Bauer here. What do you think about the heavy criticism Fox is currently getting for replacing Jack Bauer with Eric Carter for the newest installation of 24?

[Photo by Theo Wargo/Getty Images]

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