The first trailer for Twisters dropped during the Super Bowl and the sequel is already making it clear it will honor Helen Hunt’s Jo and Bill Paxton’s Bill from the original Twister. The original Twister story about storm chasers blew audiences away when it came out in 1996, particularly the monstrous F5 tornado in the third act. The CGI used to create that tornado was groundbreaking for the time, and the spectacular visual effects and adrenaline-fueled action helped make Twister a huge hit, both with critics and at the box office, and it appears that Twisters will also be about storm chasing.
Beyond the visual effects, however, the original Twister characters anchored the movie and made it resonant with the strained love story at the center of the movie revolving around Jo and Bill. The movie begins with them separated and going through a divorce, but their storm-chasing through the movie and the life-threatening situations in which they find themselves rekindle their love, both for storms and each other. Their characters are so iconic that it would be foolish of Twisters‘ story not to incorporate Bill and Jo Harding in some way.
Twisters Is Honoring The Technology Used By Jo & Bill In The Original Movie
The very first shot of Twisters is an homage to Bill Paxton’s and Helen Hunt’s characters, namely, the technology they created. The first Twister followed Jo’s mission to launch the “Dorothy” technology she and Bill created, a drum full of small capsules with aerodynamic wings that contained data sensors. The idea was that the twister would pick up the Dorothy device and the sensors would fill the tornado, delivering data in real-time to the storm chasers. In the 1996 movie, it was breakthrough technology; in Twisters, it appears that the science Bill and Jo pioneered is now well-established storm-hunting tech to gather data.
How Twisters Can Show Jo & Bill’s Legacy Even If The Characters Don’t Appear
While Twisters will follow a completely different cast than the original 1996 movie, it can still incorporate Bill Paxton and Helen Hunt in a few interesting ways. The late Paxton, who passed away in 2017, would sadly not be able to reprise his role. However, Hunt could certainly make a cameo appearance – perhaps she’s a notable expert who appears in a TV interview, or a mentor to the characters in Twisters.
Is Twisters Hiding The Biggest Connection To The Original Movie?
A new trailer for the upcoming Twisters movie suggested that it will have a huge connection to the original 1996 film with one of its main characters.
Even with Paxton being unable to appear and Hunt likely not appearing on screen in person, their characters could easily be incorporated into the story of Twisters. With the storm chasers in the movie relying on their technology, it would be easy to mention the veteran meteorologists and pioneering scientists and their contributions to the field. However the sequel does it, Twisters should absolutely make sure to honor the legacy of Jo and Bill Harding, not just because of what they contributed to the in-universe science, but also for what they mean to the franchise itself.
Twisters
A follow-up to the 1996 original film Twister, Twisters is a sequel set years after the original, said to be fast-tracked by Steven Spielberg and Mark L. Smith, with Frank Marshal as producer. Little details exist about the film, but Helen Hunt is expected to reprise her role as Jo, with the film likely to pay homage to the late Bill Paxton.
- Release Date
- July 19, 2024
- Director
- Lee Isaac Chung
- Cast
- Daisy Edgar-Jones , Glen Powell , Anthony Ramos , Brandon Perea , Daryl McCormack
