There’s been constant speculation since Paul Greengrass delivered The Bourne Ultimatum back in 2007 that a fourth outing for the amnesiac spy was still a possibility. Damon and Greengrass have both always claimed that neither would return to the franchise without the other and today it appears that will indeed be the case. The pair, who are currently promoting their latest collaboration, Green Zone, seem to have ruled out their return in interviews with Collider. Greengrass said “I need to do some different things, engage in some new material”, adding that “it’s just time to move on”. Without Greengrass, Damon is (wisely) unwilling to return to the character but believes there may still be legs in the franchise without them, telling Collider: “You can do some movies with another actor, whether it’s Ryan Gosling or Russell Crowe or Denzel Washington, and he’s Jason Bourne. And then at the end of his one movie, or two movies, or three movies, you see them getting ready to pass the identity on to me, so it just becomes like a 007, it becomes a name that they give this certain person who’s uniquely positioned.”

Speaking as a huge fan of the trilogy I think Damon may really be onto something here . He and Greengrass had taken Bourne to a logical conclusion and it would be a risk to revisit the character and potentially ruin what was, for me at least, a perfect ending. But if  ‘Jason Bourne’ becomes simply a moniker attached to subjects of Treadstone’s behaviour modification programme, then the franchise has the potential for the longevity Bond has achieved, with a Doctor Who-esque level of character variation. Damon was also quoted as saying: ” then if Paul and I come back and do a fourth one in 10 years, we’ll pass it on to someone else, and then it can kind of go on”, so with his model it also leaves the potential for them to come back at a later date which would be very cool indeed. I’d be surprised if this is the exact plan that Universal has for Bourne’s future, but he’s too big a draw at the box office to simply go away. At least with Damon and Greengrass’ blessing (and hopefully a small degree of input) the quality could also be retained in whatever sequel/prequel/reboot they decide upon.