It's becoming more frequent that actors are returning to roles they haven't played in decades. Just this year, Warwick Davis will return to the world of Willow and next year, Harrison Ford will return to Indiana Jones.
There are many examples like this, including Bette Midler, Kathy Najimy, and Sarah Jessica Parker returning to Psycho II. While it tends to happen more with superheroes, "legacy actors" are returning to non-superhero roles all the time.
Linda Hamilton - Terminator: Dark Fate (2019)
Linda Hamilton starred in Terminator 2, where she played Sarah Conner, the mother of John Conner. In the second film she was prepared to stop Judgment Day from happening with the help of her son and a reformed T-800 Terminator. She did not return for any more entries in the Terminator franchise, until 2019.
Terminator: Dark Fate ignores the films that came out after Terminator 2 and posits a world in which Sarah lost her son shortly after the events of that film. Now, she has to stop a new Judgment Day from happening. While Arnold Schwarzenegger returned for a few of the Terminator sequels, this was the first time Linda Hamilton came back.
Harrison Ford - Indiana Jones And The Kingdom Of The Crystal Skull (2008)
The last time Harrison Ford donned the hat and whip was for Indiana Jones And The Last Crusade. After that film, Lucasfilm decided not to go forward with a new Indiana Jones film, until 2008. Ford, once again, became Indiana Jones and teamed up with Marian and Mutt to take down the Soviets.
Ford has returned to a few roles recently, such as Deckard in Indiana Jones And The Kingdom Of The Crystal Skull was a special moment that is slightly undercut by the reception of that film.
Tom Cruise - Top Gun: Maverick (2022)
In 1986, Tom Cruise starred in a movie called Top Gun about a fighter pilot at one of the top training schools in the nation. He has to learn to not be such a hot shot pilot while dealing with his rival Ice Man and the death of his friend Goose. The movie was a huge hit and talk of a sequel has been going around for years.
After 36 years, Tom Cruise returned to the world of Top Gun with which could lead to more 80s legacy sequels.
Sean Connery - Never Say Never Again (1983)
Sean Connery ended his run as James Bond with You Only Live Twice, and he was replaced by George Lazenby for the next film, On Her Majesty's Secret Service. But that film wasn't received very well and Connery returned to the role for the next Bond film in Diamonds Are Forever.
After this return, he famously said he would never return to the role of James Bond again. Through a legal loophole, Sean Connery returned in Never Say Never Again more than a decade after his last outing. This time, he played an older Bond who is being phased out of MI6 and has to defeat the evil organization Spectre. This was one of the earliest instances of a legacy actor returning to a role.
Jamie Lee Curtis - Halloween (2018)
Jamie Lee Curtis got her big break with 1978's Halloween H20: 20 Years Later and it's sequel, and it seemed like the end of Laurie Strode.
2018, however, rebooted the Halloween franchise with Halloween, and it brought back Laurie Strode again. Halloween Ends.
Keanu Reeves - The Matrix Resurrection (2021)
Keanu Reeves had a great career before The Matrix, but it was that film that arguably made him a big star. He played Neo, who was destined to end the war between the humans and the machines. Throughout the Matrix trilogy, he goes up against all sorts of villains before finally ending the war as was prophesied.
That could have been it, but last year saw the release of The Matrix Resurrection ended up being one of Reddit's favorite legacy sequels.
Jeff Bridges - Tron: Legacy (2010)
Jeff Bridges starred as Kevin Flynn in Tron, who gets trapped inside a computer program that is being taken over by a rogue program. He has to team up with his partners program Tron in order to stop it. For years, the movie became a cult classic and there was a demand for a sequel.
That sequel finally came in 2010 when Jeff Bridges reprise his role as Kevin Flynn. Now a father, he finds himself trapped in a new version of the Grid that has been taken over by his own program Clu. His son finds his way into the Grid and has to help his father free the Grid from Clu's control and help a new program Quorra. Like the first, Tron: Legacy has become a cult classic and only time will tell if a third film will come.
Sylvester Stallone - Rocky Balboa (2006)
Sylvester Stallone is known for being one of the premier action stars of the '80s. One of his most famous characters is Rocky Balboa, the main character the Rocky franchise. Stallone played the character for five films before hanging up the boxing shorts. In the fifth film, Rocky suffers a major injury that forces him to retire and that was seemingly that.
However, Stallone learned that people could recover quickly from that injury. Stallone wrote, directed and stared in a sixth film 16 years later. This time Rocky comes out of retirement to prove that he's still the champ and that he can beat some hotshot knew boxer. came out in 2015, one of the best legacy sequels according to Letterboxd.
Emilio Estaves - The Mighty Ducks: Game Changers (2021)
Mighty Ducks is a classic sports film and many people have grown up with the teachings of Emilio Estaves' Gordon Bombay. The character had a huge role in the first film and as the films went on, his role diminished. By the time the third came around, Estaves had nothing more than a cameo.
When Disney+ announced it was doing Mighty Ducks: Game Changers, fans were hopeful that it would mean the return of many favorite characters, including Gordon Bombay. The first season of the show sees Bombay in a run down ice rink where he's approached to help coach a new hockey team that's in desperate need of help. Sadly he did not return for the second season, but at least fans got one last look at the character.
Neve Campbell - Scream 4 (2011) / Scream (2022)
Scream III saw Neve Campbell's Sydney go to Hollywood when she learns that there are new Ghostface killings on the set of the most recent Stab films. She once again teams up with Gale Weathers and Dewey Riley to stop this new killer, who may be connected to Sydney's mom.
Sydney's story seemed like it was over, and for the most part it was. However, Neve Campbell would return twice as Sydney to help new characters survive Ghostface when he returns. Scream all focus on the lagacy of Sydney while not making her the lead. It looks like Sydney can finally rest, as Neve Campbell has decided not return for the next installment.
