Handsome Jack is one of the greatest villains in video game history and Gearbox Software initially planned to bring him back in Borderlands 3. However, they switched gears and challenged themselves if they could recapture that lightning in a bottle with the Calypso Twins. While these two baddies initially looked like they could carry that role, however, the community was a bit disappointed in their execution. This leaves us with the question if Gearbox Software will revisit this idea of bringing back Handsome Jack in Borderlands4.
Reviving Handsome Jack
How would Gearbox bring Handsome Jack back to the franchise? I don’t think they will just say; “You killed another body double and he’s lurking from the shadows all this time”.
- Rhys was left with an AI copy of Handsome Jack near the end of Tales From The Borderlands. While the game gave you a choice of what to do with it. There was no confirmation that it was actually destroyed. This leaves room for bringing back a true Jackbot as his AI could hack into the Atlas Mainframe as Rhys was researching it.
- We encounter Timothy in Moxxi’s Heist on the Handsome Jackpot. He is also known as Handsome Jack’s doppelganger. During that Borderlands 3 DLC, we restore his mojo and he is able to adopt the Handsome Jack persona once again. While he was likely to score a date with Moxxi, we all know that wouldn’t last. Could this heartbreaking event trigger the evil inside Timothy and enable him to fully embrace the Handsome Jack persona?
- A combination of the two where Timothy doesn’t feel complete and merges with the digital eye which contains Jack’s AI.
Borderlands ≠ Handsome Jack
Bringing back Handsome Jack initially sounds like a great idea and despite Gearbox Software’s early efforts of integrating him into other games. I don’t think Jack is synonymous with Borderlands and that the franchise should lean on one supervillain. I think that would make the franchise go stale.
There even is a sticky note in Borderlands 3 that claims Handsome Jack is really dead. I know Gearbox likes to troll the community but I believe that Gearbox Software is capable of creating great villains. They have already proven themselves with Butcher Rose from Bounty of Blood. She is a great antagonist and there is still some mystery around her. I would love to see more from her in a future installment.
But the real question is, do you want to see Hansome Jack return in Borderlands 4? Let me know your opinion in the comments below or tag @MentalMars on social media.
JQB
honestly it’s a toss up. i see and understand people saying handsome jack is over mainly because i dont think people can imagine what else he’d do but with a good writer there could definitely be something there. especially if there’s some great gameplay and solid characters come back and all that bullshit from 3 is done away with. mainly the kid, and twins (tho i actually liked them from a lore standpoint…not story tho w/the streaming…wtf).
On the other hand…there’s another villain, which tbh…now we know why jack is a topic. Because it has more chance to fail or be mediocre. idk man.
Alan
While I see the point of not wanting to go to the well too often, so to speak in reference to Handsome Jack. I ask myself “how many of these games are they likely to make ?”. However, they’ve incorporated the first 4 vault hunters in every installment to date. So why not do the sane with Jack?
All that being I feel the people at Gearbox are incredibly talented and can learn from the mistakes in character development, from BL3. I personally LOVED Butcher Rose and the east meets went landscape. So since they did that so perfectly well. I say let them be free to try again.
Marcus Huey
Personally I already thought they were going to bring him back in the 4th I’m mean think of the perfect storyline that would make I but I thought it would happen a little differently than how they explained it I was thinking another villain would come along and revive Jack from the dead and somewhat control him but either way if they do bring him back It will be amazing
Soquilli
They kept some of the original vault hunters throughout the series, I think they should definitely keep Jack too. Jack is awesome. In the upcoming movie, hopefully movies…I think Ryan Reynolds will make fans want to keep Jack around even longer. They can still add new bad guys, but it just doesn’t seem like Borderlands without him. Personally I think maybe they should be working on some of the bugs in BL3 and Tiny Tina before worrying about a BL4. When the movie releases and new fans attempt to play the games, it’s a bit discouraging when the game won’t play half the time. Especially after spending around $100 on each of them, disappointment ugh. We have an Xbox S series and the games constantly stop and close on us. Maybe we just need a new consol too who knows. They are about to get a marketing boost with the movie, work on quality instead of quantity for the moment.
Jeanell Chandler
I want timothy to return in borderlands 4 the good timothy
Jeanell Chandler
That got me thinking bout that it will break my heart 💔 if timothy adopt Jack’s personality and be a murders greedy evil dick like jack was I love timothy he a sweetheart