The director of Saw X shared his thoughts on the lack of connections to previous movies, including Jigsaw and Spiral.
One of the most beloved aspects of the Saw franchise, on top of its intricate death traps, is its complicated, convoluted continuity that weaves throughout nearly every single installment.
One of the biggest open ends in the franchise is Matt Passmore’s Logan, who was revealed in Jigsaw to have been one of John Kramer’s first accomplices. With Saw X taking place between Saw I and Saw II, in theory, he’d still be an active part of John Kramer’s games.
But the movie comes and goes with no mention of the accomplice. In fact, the film successfully avoids making too many references to the series’ extensive past entirely.
Saw X's Lack of Jigsaw or Spiral Connections
While speaking with The Direct's Russ Milheim in an exclusive interview, Saw X director Kevin Greutert explained the lack of connections to some previous films.
First and foremost, The Direct asked if the team ever considered bringing in Jigsaw's Logan, played by Matt Passmore, who was one of John Kramer's earliest accomplices as revealed by the 2017 movie.
Greutert said that he never talked to the Jigsaw writers about utilizing the character, as Logan is "their creation." Instead, the director emphasized how "it was a high priority for this film to be a standalone for people who don't know the franchise:"
“I never talked to [Jigsaw writers] Josh [Stolberg] and Pete [Goldfinger] about that. You know, he's their creation. But we really—it was a very high priority for this film to be a standalone for people that don't know the franchise. And I even broomed out a few other details where we make reference to other aspects of the saga that I just figured a general audience member is not going to know what we're talking about, and it's going to potentially pull them out of the movie."
The filmmaker then pointed to Hoffman's minor role in the film's big culminating twist and its brief post-credits scene, stating that the appearance of Costas Mandylor's character was "a little gift for the fans:"
"So, you know, Hoffman is a little gift for the fans. Obviously, Amanda is a big gift for the fans, because she's a big part of the movie. And you know, I just don't want I didn't want to do anything that made the general audience go, ‘I don't belong here.’”
When asked if there were any connections to Chris Rock's Spiral, big or small, Greutert definitively replied: "No, no."
Are No Jigsaw or Spiral Connections a Bad Thing?
On one hand, it does sting a little that there are no references to the franchise’s many open threads—including Logan himself. After all, even the smallest references or nods are enough to make most Saw fans light up and go into theorizing mode.
If the creatives wanted to, Logan could have easily been involved in Saw X's story, perhaps even coming down to Mexico to help John Kramer build his new game. But the reasoning for avoiding all the continuity where they could makes perfect sense.
While many fans love the convoluted storytelling the franchise is known for, it can also serve as a massive turn-off for new audiences who might be jumping into any of the sequels blindly. With Saw X, Lionsgate clearly wanted to make it as friendly to new fans as possible.
At least with Saw X, the studio took a newbie approach that still included John Kramer, unlike 2022’s Spiral, which was almost entirely disconnected aside from a “Jigsaw” namedrop once or twice. Hopefully, future installments will feel comfortable picking up some of Saw’s many loose ends.
What’s Logan up to these days? Did Hoffman die in that bathroom? How’s Daniel Matthews holding up? What’s William Schenk’s next move?
Then, there are all the additional questions that Saw X itself introduces to the table. Fans certainly have a lot to think about.
Saw X is now playing in theaters worldwide.
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