Jack Bauer’s days of saving the world are coming to an end, as FOX punches out 24 after eight successful seasons. The series has been the comeback vehicle for actor and executive producer Kiefer Sutherland as the rogue and controversial federal agent that won him a Golden Globe in 2002 and an Emmy in 2006, the same year that the series was named Best Drama.
Since the fall of 2001, Jack Bauer has been the hero for the post-9/11 generation: waging a one-man war against terrorists and corruption in Los Angeles, Africa, Washington, D.C., and currently New York to defend freedom, liberty, honor. But his success came with personal sacrifice: the murder of his wife Teri, the betrayal of his colleague and friend Tony, and years of estrangement between him and his daughter Kim, with whom he has reconnected with as well as with her young daughter named after her late mother.
Jack Bauer shares the same character traits as Dirty Harry, John McClane, Shane, and Equalizer Robert McCall: a flawed reluctant hero, a weary gunfighter, a haunted man seeking peace and redemption, a soldier of the good fight, and a tragic figure.
However, 24 on the big screen is still in the works, as executive producer Howard Gordon recently told The Hollywood Reporter that a script is currently developing, and that the film may come out in early 2011.
The clock is still ticking, as 24 airs its final hours May 24.
