The Bourne Film Franchise: The Bourne franchise’s character named Nicky, originally had a different ending, and the choice to alter her destiny rescued the spy thriller series. Although Julia Stiles’ Nicky ultimately played a crucial role in the Bourne series, her intended ending in The Bourne Identity would have terminated the series.
The Bourne franchise frequently ran the risk of being overly dark in an effort to create a more realistic, gritty espionage film than the escape-oriented James Bond films. The political and psychological thrillers of the 1970s, which were gloomy, pessimistic, and paranoid, served as both a creative inspiration for the Bourne films and a source of blockbuster entertainment.
This was made clear throughout the entire franchise in the relationship between characters Bourne and Nicky. In contrast to the great majority of James Bond films, where 007 romances a variety of love interests, Stiles’ Nicky is the closest thing the amnesiac Jason Bourne gets to a romantic partner throughout the Bourne films.
Nicky, a Treadstone employee who assists the spy on several occasions and puts her life in danger in the process, is suggested to have a mysterious past with the assassin before his memory loss, although the two never develop a romantic relationship throughout the Bourne films. Despite the significance of Stiles, a cruel twist nearly ended her story.
Killing Nicky In The Bourne Identity Would Have Been Counterproductive.
Her character was initially intended to die at the conclusion of The Bourne Identity, and Bourne himself was the one who did it, according to Julia Stiles (via Collider). Even when unsure whether Nicky is preparing him for arrest by the CIA, Bourne never threatens to harm her despite the fact that his martial arts training makes him a lethally effective assassin throughout the trilogy. However, Nicky was mercilessly killed by being turned over and having her neck snapped in the original conclusion of The Bourne Identity, starring Matt Damon. Even though this sequence was shot, the finished movie omitted it.
While Nicky survived to appear in 2016’s Jason Bourne and was given a far more appropriate ending, Julia Stiles mistakenly thought the character would die in The Bourne Identity before she actually saw the film. The emotional stakes of this missed death scene were non-existent because her bond with Jason was scarcely developed in The Bourne Identity.
Nicky had a more direct link to Bourne by the time of Nicky’s death in 2016’s Jason Bourne, making the heartbreaking, painful moment more impactful. Even though Matt Damon detested The Bourne Ultimatum, Bourne and Nicky’s friendship was crucial to the critical success of the sequel, and losing her after just one movie would have been disastrous.
Why Jason Bourne’s Nicky Death Worked
Nicky’s demise came almost a decade after The Bourne Ultimatum had left her and Jason comparatively unharmed, making the surprise all the more terrible. The first Nicky death in The Bourne Identity would have demonstrated Bourne’s capacity for cold-blood murder. On the other hand, the spy’s self-defense execution of a hit guy in front of Nicky in The Bourne Ultimatum demonstrated this capability much more successfully.
The Nicky death sequence in Jason Bourne was heartbreaking and devastating. Still, it felt earned over the previous installments, unlike The Bourne Identity’s unused Nicky death, which would have been too depressing. Nicky’s demise was appropriately postponed until the fourth installment of the Bourne trilogy.
