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.
