Due to the gruesome nature of the Saw franchise, it doesn’t have many recurring characters. The huge exception to that rule, however, is Tobin Bell’s unforgettable turn as the Jigsaw killer, with the subsequent installments in the franchise working through his ‘interesting’ perspectives on righteous justice. Not even his death in Saw III could really keep him down, returning in various guises in each film in the series since.
Most recently we saw his first ‘game’ in Jigsaw, and many assumed that this flashback to his formative days nicely wrapped up his story. After all, there have been eight films in the franchise, so how much more could there really be to say about the character? Well… with persistent rumors of a ninth Saw movie being planned, apparently quite a lot. At least, according to Bell.
Screen Rant recently interviewed the actor in relation to the home video release of Jigsaw and he revealed how he’d absolutely be game for further appearances in the role:
“If they were to continue I’m always interested. Actors act. That’s what we do. And I’m always interested in expanding a character and filling him in if there’s more story to be told. And when the writing is good and makes people think, and is surprising and intricate and something new. So yes, I’m interested in participating in that. And are there aspects of John that I would like to sing about? Yeah, there are. I don’t know that we have truly talked about the origins of Billy. And that’s as much as I’ll say about that.”
He is, of course, talking about the iconic ‘Billy the Puppet,’ the creepy as hell mascot of the franchise. Now, we do actually know quite a bit about Billy from previous entries in the series, but it’d be so typically Saw to have some kind of darker truth hiding in plain sight that we just haven’t noticed yet.
Further in the interview, Bell went on to explain more about Jigsaw, possibly teasing this idea that what you see might not necessarily be what you get.
“If John is anything, he is a master of deception. He anticipates what’s going to happen and he adjusts and he conducts his business based on his appraisal of the people involved. So that’s what’s most fascinating to me about Saw is this sleight of hand that John is master of, and has been since Day 1.”
While none of the sequels have really touched the heights of the original for me (though Saw VI had its moments), it’s still one of the boldest and strangest franchises to have gone mainstream. If they’re cooking up a ninth installment, I don’t think they can feasibly do it without Bell being involved in one form or another. Either way, though, unlike many of its characters, it’s looking as if the Saw franchise will have legs for a while yet.