Bruce Willis’ Role In Die Hard: Year One Is Much Larger Than Anticipated

Another Die Hard movie is in development, and it’s set to shake things up from the stagnant tripe that was A Good Day To Die Hard. For this next installment, Die Hard: Year One, Fox is planning a prequel tale revolving around the tough-as-nails John McClane’s fledgling years as a New York City beat cop. Len Wiseman is back to direct, Lorenzo Di Bonaventura to produce, and of course, Bruce Willis will slip into a greasy wife-beater as McClane.

But wait, how can Willis be in a prequel? A wraparound story that was previously thought to “bookend” the main bulk of the movie will permit his inclusion. Willis’ version of McClane might, for example, be reminiscing about his younger years and in comes a hazy cutaway to the ’70s, and so begins the film before circling back to grizzled McClane at the end. Well, apparently that’s not the case according to Wiseman, who spoke to the folks at /Film today:

“He will be more present than that. This character of course is modern day and the origin story if you can call it that has ramifications on present day McClane. What it’s not is it’s not a cameo bookend scenario. It’s a prequel/sequel hybrid that I really haven’t seen before and is incredibly different.”

One thing that cannot take place, as wisely asked by /Film, is a series of public heroics on the part of McClane. As a prequel, it still must adhere to certain continuity ethics. If in the prequel, for example, he demonstrates his daredevilish side with a stunt so massive it’s practically in Avengers territory… that would be a bit difficult to explain as no-one knows who he is in the first Die Hard. Nevertheless, there will be plenty of opportunities to start crafting the wise guy he’s become by the original:

“For sure, because he can’t be the superhero. It’s a delicate balance of giving you a sense of what started McClane, because McClane when he comes into Die Hard 1 has a lot of emotional baggage, baggage in general moreso than a lot of our other action characters in the sense that he’s already divorced. He’s got an incredible chip on his shoulder. He’s bitter. His captain hates him, doesn’t want him back in New York. What caused all that? Why was he already that guy?”

For now, Die Hard: Year One remains in development, but we’ll keep you posted with any updates on the sequel/prequel when the news lands.