'24: Legacy': Tony Almeida character to resurface in Fox spinoff
By Oriana Schwindt
LOS ANGELES (Variety.com) - Fox's "24: Legacy" isn't going to try to make you forget the name "Jack Bauer," but it is going to make sure you remember the name Eric Carter.
However, that doesn't mean fans won't be seeing at least one familiar face from the original "24": Carlos Bernard will be making an appearance as Tony Almeida, "24: Legacy" producers revealed Saturday at New York Comic Con.
Executive producers Howard Gordon, Manny Coto and Evan Katz declined to reveal more details about Almeida's return.
"He was out washing cars," Coto joked.
The Almeida character hasn't been seen in the original "24"-verse since 2009, when he was sent to prison. However, there was a special short shot just for the DVD edition of the "24: Live Another Day" in which Tony manages to escape, laying the groundwork for his appearance on "Legacy."
"I think Almeida's going to shake some things up," "24: Legacy" star Corey Hawkins said. Hawkins plays Carter, a former Army Ranger with a dark past who becomes involved with CTU, the covert operations agency at the heart of the "24" franchise. The Almeida character was a turncoat CTU agent.
"24: Legacy" will bow Feb. 5, after the Super Bowl on Fox.
"It's a huge vote of confidence from Fox," Hawkins said of the post-Super Bowl premiere slot. With 2014's "24: Live Another Day," the series went from 24 episodes to 12 episodes (with a time-jump), a length that has its pros and cons, according to producers.
"Twelve episodes is half as fun," Katz said. With more episodes you could take a little more time, slow down a little, and give characters a little more time to breathe. At the same time, it was sometimes difficult to fill all 24 episodes with the thrills required, producers said.
"About episode 17 the storytelling got a little dire," Coto admitted.
And thus the compromise of 12 episodes that still take place in real-time. "Real-time is the storytelling engine we love," Gordon said. "It's really so unique, it's so adrenalized."
