Director Darren Bousman has finally given a statement as to why the newest Saw sequel, Spiral: From the Book of Saw, not only dropped the franchise moniker but also its mascot – the Billy puppet. After all, losing these iconic elements seemed like a risky choice for a film that strayed quite far from its roots in those regards. But now Bousman has explained the logic behind those moves.
As explained in a recent interview with Radio Times:
“If I was brought in to direct Saw 9, that would be a much different thing than being brought in to direct Spiral,” Bousman explained. “And I think that it’s important for me to differentiate the two. Spiral: From the Book of Saw is not called Saw 9 for a reason. It’s because it’s the ninth installment of this franchise, but it’s not Saw 9, because there will never be another Tobin Bell, There will never be another Jigsaw.”
He further explained that the move was also decided as a way to keep fans from being upset by the new movie.
“And I didn’t want to insult the fans by trying to make another Jigsaw,” Bousman continued. “Because there’s only one Tobin Bell, and no one can hold a candle to what he brought into that character. So for me, I wanted to go a completely different way. I wanted the killer to be so different from Jigsaw that there would be no comparison to that. They are different people. So when you start going down that road, you have to change out kind of everything. Because if you’re trading out Jigsaw, you’ve got to change out the doll as well.”
Indeed, while the newly released Spiral: From the Book of Saw has distanced itself from most past entries in the franchise, that doesn’t mean it isn’t a Saw film. In fact, co-writer John Stolberg stated as much on Twitter.
The film is NOT a reboot. It is canon. All the films exist in the same universe. And who knows, maybe Saw X will tie all the stories together. You never know.
— Josh Stolberg (@joshstolberg) June 26, 2019
It’s definitely an interesting decision and a clever way of making the franchise feel fresh again. Hopefully, however, we will get to see the return of Billy and the Saw name in a future post-Spiral entry. Especially considering co-writer Josh Stolberg has teased that a Saw X film could happen, and tie all of these events together.