by: S. Scott Stanikmas – Senior Staff Writer

The Die Hard franchise is really living up to its name. Almost thirty years after the first film, Bruce Willis will once again reprise his role of tough-to-kill cop John McClane and he’s not the only one coming back.

Deadline broke the news about Die Hard 6, which is actually being called Die Hard: Year One, and that Live Free Or Die Hard director Len Wiseman will return to helm the pic.

How can Bruce Willis star in McClane’s Year One story if he’s older than he was in the first film, though? The current plan is to have Willis appear at the start and end of the film, with another actor taking up the bulk of the film, which will take place in 1979 and “show how he became a die hard kind of guy.” Isn’t the first film how we learned that?

Could McClane be reliving his rookie year to his grandchildren around a warm Christmas fire? That would be one badass yuletide tale.

McClane’s origin was already done, albeit in a different format. BOOM! Studios put out an origin comic book that followed rookie cop John McClane during the 1976 Bicentennial celebration in New York City. It’s unknown whether or not the film will borrow any of the material for its story.

The real surprising news to me is the return of Wiseman. I remember listening to one of the Evening With Kevin Smith DVDs and the filmmaker told about his experience on the set of Live Free Or Die Hard. Smith said that Wiseman started out all gung-ho but by the time Silent Bob finally made it to the set it was a very different story. It was said that Wiseman was struggling to keep Willis in check and was suffering from ulcers from the stress.

Could the fact that Willis’ involvement will be minimal have been the deciding factor in Len Wiseman returning to the Die Hard franchise? It’s definitely a possibility.

The project is still in the early stages of development and is currently in search of a writer to give it the right treatment. Willis isn’t officially on board yet either, but an easy check and the chance to extend his legacy without it looking like a sad reach for younger days says he’ll most likely return.