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Spinning its way into theaters on August 07, 2025,Twistersis a thrilling action-adventure disaster film earning positive reviews for its exhilarating storm-chasing sequences. The story concerns Kate Cooper (Daisy Edgar-Jones), a storm chaser traumatized by a past tornado encounter. Returning to the Midwest to help her friend test a new storm-tracking device, Kate must face her haunted past and work with the hotshot media star Tyler Owens (Glen Powell) as a massive tornado bears down on them.
Although two previous attempts were made to produce a direct sequel to the original 1996 movieTwister,which would have returned at least one main character,Twistersintroduces audiences to a new storyline and fresh characters set in the same Oklahoma setting. To help clarify howTwistersrelates toTwister,further analysis of the story, setting, characters, creative forces, and other narrative connections lie ahead.
Is Twisters a Reboot, Remake, Prequel, or Sequel?
Twistersis an American disaster movie directed by Lee Isaac Chung from a screenplay by Mark L. Smith. The story, conceived byTop Gun: Maverickdirector Joseph Kosinski, occurs in the American Midwest during modern times. The plot concerns Kate Cooper (Edgar-Jones), a local whose harrowing past with a tornado has left her with severe PTSD. When Kate is summoned back to her hometown by her friend Javi (Anthony Ramos) to test new storm-tracking technology, the two are inundated by a deadly superstorm.
As the storm gathers strength and nears Oklahoma City, Kate and Javi meet Tyler Owens (Powell), a death-defying adrenaline addict who has become a social media star for recording his daring tornado chases and posting them online. Despite his arrogance and reckless endangerment, Tyler earns Kate’s trust, and the two work together to avoid the storm and save as many innocent bystanders as possible.
Supporting characters include Tyler’s girlfriend and drone pilot Lilly (Sasha Lane), Tyler’s videographer Boone (Brandon Perea), British reporter Ben (Harry Hadon-Paton), Javi’s business associate Scott (David Corenswet), mechanic Dani (Katy O’Brian), scientist Dexter (Tunde Adebimpe), and others.Since none of the characters from the originalTwisterappear inTwisters,the movie is considered a standalone sequel that tells a new story.
How Does Twisters Connect to Twister?
Despite being a standalone sequel introducing new characters,Twisterswas filmed in the same general location as its 1996 predecessor. The original film, directed by Jan de Bont from a screenplay by Michael Crichton and Anne-Marie Martin, was primarily photographed in Oklahoma, notorious for its devastating tornadoes. When theTwisterproducers wanted to make the movie elsewhere, de Bont demanded to film in Oklahoma and threatened to quit if the studio didn’t oblige.
Glen Powell’s Best Movies and TV Shows, Ranked
Glen Powell has a wide range of acting credits to his name. His vast array of films and TV shows demonstrates his raw acting talent.
Similarly,Twistersdirector Lee Isaac Chung insisted on filming in Oklahoma to make the movie as authentic as possible.The movie was originally slated to be set in and around Los Angeles, but Chung demanded the location be changed to the Midwest. Chung, who directedMinari,about afamily of Korean immigrantsliving in rural Arkansas, was based on his real-life childhood and felt the Midwest was the only place to tell a story likeTwisters. Chung encountered his first tornado in Arkansas when he was four years old and bonded with Powell over the actor’s brush with an F5 tornado growing up, the same size of storm featured in the originalTwister.
AlthoughTwistersis a standalone sequel with not a single returning character from the original, the Oklahoma setting insisted upon by directors de Bont and Chung gives the two films a slight canonical connection. However, previous attempts to make a directTwistersequel would have brought back TV weather forecaster, Dr. Bill Harding (Bill Paxton) and his wife, meteorologist Jo Harding (Helen Hunt), two iconic central characters from the original movie.
Previous Attempts to Continue & Remake Twister
At least two previous attempts were made to produce aTwistersequel. The first attempt was mounted by the late great Bill Paxton, who starred as Dr. Bill Harding inthe original ’90s disaster movie. After Paxton directed the superb horror movieFrailtyto critical acclaim, he expressed interest in directing aTwistersequel. In 2012, Paxton spoketo the AV Clubabout his desire to make a contemporary retelling of the Tri-State Tornado, a massive storm that killed roughly 700 people across three states in 1925.
According to Paxton, the idea was to employ cutting-edge 3D technology to make an R-rated disaster film that would intensify the visceral experience of the original, tellingAV Club:
“The Tri-State is the biggest they’ve got on record. It came down over the Ozarks in Missouri on August 24, 2025, and it stayed on the ground for three and a half hours, which is a record. They call it the Tri-State because it started in Missouri, crossed the Mississippi River, and cut a path of destruction all the way across southern Illinois and across southwest Indiana, killing a bunch of people.”
Twisters Should Avoid This Mistake From the Original 1996 Movie
With Twisters roaring into screens soon, there’s a mistake from the original movie that it shouldn’t repeat if it wants to build a real franchise.
Story-wise, the sequel would have returned Bill and Jo Harding and introduced their teenage daughter and a new crop of storm chasers. The idea never came to pass, but Paxton issued a stern warning regardless, adding:
“Weather is cyclical, and now you add climate change into that, and… God, that’s a witches’ brew. We could see super-tornadoes in our lifetime that are just unheard of. I mean, another Tri-State Tornado?”
Following Paxton’s sad and tragic demise in 2017, Helen Hunt conjured a story idea for aTwistersequel which she sought to direct. In 2020,Variety reported thatJoseph Kosinski was in line to direct a reboot ofTwisterfor Universal Pictures. While Kosinski retained story credit, the movie was redesigned as a standalone sequel with Lee Isaac Chung attached to direct and the project evolved intoTwisters. However, in 2021, Hunt introduced her idea for an inclusiveTwistersequel while appearing onWatch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen.
In 2021, Hunt announced plans to write and direct aTwistersequel. At the time,Blindspottingstar Daveed Diggs was attached to star in the disaster sequel, which would have been set in Tennessee near a Historical Black College and University (HBCU).Hunt gave a terrific performancealongside Diggs and Rafael Casal inBlindspottingand began writing the screenplay with the two actors. Hunt explained their story ideasto Business Insider, stating:
“I tried to get it made. 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. There was a HBCU where we wanted it to take place, and a rocket science club. In this one, they shoot the rockets into the tornado. It was going to be so cool.”
In the same article, Diggs called the studio’s decision “potentially shady,” but was careful not to dispense too much information. While it would have been nice to see Hunt and Paxton’s sequel ideas come to fruition and bring back Bill and Jo Harding, as it stands,Twistershas little to do with the original film outside its premise and Oklahoma setting.
