The Twister sequel is finally happening, as it was recently reported that a follow-up film, dubbed Twisters, is set to start filming early next year. Sadly, it won’t feature the return of Dr. William “The Extreme” Harding, as original Twister star Bill Paxton passed away in 2017. This has left many feeling leery about Twisters to the point that some fans are wondering why the sequel is even moving forward without the presence of the late actor.

But one person who’s on board with Twisters is James Paxton, Bill’s son. He tells TMZ that Twisters “has his blessing” and he’s “hopeful they make a great movie.” Paxton also says he’s open to appearing in the film as a way of acknowledging his father. Should that happen, it’d be a full circle moment for him, as his dad used to bring him to the Twister set as a kid. James says he’d often hang out in the red truck often shown in the film.

What’s more, the younger Paxton also says Bill was attempting to get a Twister sequel made prior to his passing. The idea he had was to introduce a new character as the daughter of his and Helen Hunt’s characters, and that could be the direction Twisters goes in as word is Hunt is wanted to reprise her role. James says that because the original is such an “iconic” film, the sequel has the potential to be just as special as other successful legacy sequels like Top Gun: Maverick.

Will Helen Hunt Return for Twisters?

     Warner Bros.

A recent report from Deadline suggests that Twisters will follow the daughter of Bill Paxton and Helen Hunt’s characters, reminiscent of the pitch Paxton had for the sequel he wanted to make. Though Paxton won’t be able to personally appear in Twisters, having his character’s daughter as the new protagonist will help honor him in a special way. It remains to be seen if Hunt will sign on for the project, but it does seem likely, as just last year, she revealed that she had also been pitching a Twister sequel with a new cast of diverse storm chasers.

“I tried to get it made,” she said on Watch What Happens Live with Mitch Cohen. “With Daveed [Diggs] and Rafael [Casal] and me writing it, and all Black and brown storm chasers, and they wouldn’t do it. I was going to direct it… We could barely get a meeting, and this is in June of 2020 when it was all about diversity. It would have been so cool.”

A release date hasn’t yet been set for Twisters.