Why xXx 2 Almost Dropped Samuel L Jacksons Gibbons Completely

Why xXx 2 Almost Dropped Samuel L. Jackson’s Gibbons Completely

Samuel L. Jackson’s Gibbons has played a major role in the franchise but here’s why he was almost dropped from xXx 2: State Of The Union.

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Here’s why Samuel L. Jackson’s Gibbons was almost dropped from xXx 2. The James Bond franchise was in a bit of a funk between the tail end of the Pierce Brosnan era and Casino Royale. The likes of 2002’s Die Another Day felt hopelessly creaky and dated, and the same year it came also saw the arrival of Sony’s attempt at building a rival spy series. xXx cast Vin Diesel as the titular spy, with Xander Cage being an extreme sports and adrenaline junkie recruited by the NSA to infiltrate a terrorist group.

xXx borrowed liberality from the James Bond series from the gadgets to the exotic locales, and it all centered around Vin Diesel’s star power. While the series was custom built as a vehicle for Diesel, he bailed on a follow-up, just like he had done previously with 2 Fast 2 Furious. At the time, the actor explained he didn’t want to make another sequel so close to working on The Chronicles Of Riddick, though he later admitted he didn’t like the xXx 2 script the studio preferred.

xXx 2: State Of The Union instead cast Ice Cube as Gibbons’ latest recruit, with the two working together to take down an attempted coup in Washington. Samuel L. Jackson played a major supporting role in the sequel, which even explained the origins of Gibbons’ facial scars. Agent Gibbons is basically the M of the franchise, but according to a BBC interview with director Rob Cohen, the character wasn’t supposed to return for the sequel at all.

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Cohen directed the original xXx and developed the sequel for a while before he and Diesel eventually dropped out. Their preferred draft would have focused on Cage fighting pirates in the Strait of Malacca, with the director stating of his roadmap for the series that “What I want is a more anarchistic franchise” and “I don’t want a template that you can predict – so there’ll be nobody coming back for “xXx 2″ except Vin.” He specifically ruled out a return for Cage’s boss, stating “It won’t be Gibbons [Sam Jackson’s character] getting on the phone and saying “We have another mission”.

While the “anarchistic” franchise idea sounds interesting, it’s likely the studio would have pressed for Samuel L. Jackson’s Gibbons to appear in some form. If nothing else, it would make sense for Gibbons to be the one ordering Cage on his latest mission in the first place, and the dynamic between the two was one of the more engaging parts of the original. In the end, Cohen and Diesel left, while Gibbons was ironically given an even bigger role in xXx 2 to make up for Diesel’s exit. Jackson and Diesel later reunited for 2017’s belated xXx: The Return Of Xander Cage, though they only shared one scene together.

Link Source : https://screenrant.com/xxx2-movie-samuel-jackson-gibbons-almost-dropped/