With more books to adapt, The Maze Runner 4 can technically still happen, and the movie could easily bring back Dylan O’Brien’s Thomas.
Summary
- The Maze Runner 4 could potentially happen by using the fourth book in the series, which is a prequel set before Thomas wakes up in the Maze.
- Dylan O'Brien's character can easily return through short flashbacks or by reusing footage from the previous films, requiring minimal time and effort.
- While a potential adaptation of the fifth book seems less likely due to the aging actors, incorporating scenes from the original trilogy into The Maze Runner 4 could be a feasible option.
The Maze Runner movies ended after adapting three of James Dashner's five young adult books, but a Maze Runner 4 could technically happen — and there's an easy way the franchise can bring Dylan O'Brien back for it. O'Brien made his debut as Thomas in 2014's The Maze Runner, bringing the series' lead to life with an impressively faithful performance. O'Brien's character wakes to find himself trapped within the confines of a giant Maze with no memory of how he got there. He and a group of kids facing the same predicament eventually find their way out of the Maze only to discover a dying world.
The Maze Runner sequels — The Scorch Trials and The Death Cure — see Thomas and his friends grappling with their place in the outside world and running from the corrupt organization trying to save it. Their stories end on a definitive note in The Death Cure, but Dashner's novels continue beyond it. The author penned two prequels that weren't adapted, but their existence suggests The Maze Runner 4 can still happen. It would be set in the past, so the franchise could mostly start anew. However, Thomas does appear briefly in the fourth book. Fortunately, there's a simple way a movie could bring O'Brien's character back.
How Dylan O'Brien's Maze Runner 4 Return Can Happen
The Kill Order, the fourth book in the Maze Runner series, is set 13 years before Thomas wakes up in the Maze. It chronicles the chain of events that kick off the end of the world, following a new cast of characters and showing the origin of the Flare. The prequel briefly features The Maze Runner's lead, but it only tells readers what they already know. As such, O'Brien can make a comeback without putting in much time or effort.
The Maze Runner 4's few Thomas scenes demonstrate how he became part of WICKED's Maze initiative. He undergoes an operation, and then he's sent to join the other Gladers. As some of this is alluded to in the original films, short flashbacks are all that's needed to include Thomas in the prequel. The movie could even cut the part about the operation, alluding to it in passing before showing Thomas entering the Maze. Depending on how it approaches Thomas' scenes, O'Brien may not even need to return. The Maze Runner 4 could simply reuse footage from the previous installments.
Maze Runner 4 Reusing Thomas Scenes Is Better Than Dylan O'Brien Returning
Although O'Brien can probably get away with returning for Thomas' minor scenes in The Maze Runner 4, the movie could also use footage from the original trilogy if it ever happens. The already-made Maze Runner movies show flashbacks of Thomas' time with WICKED, and they open with his first moments in the Maze. As such, it wouldn't be difficult for The Maze Runner 4 to touch up these scenes and incorporate them into a prequel.
The Maze Runner 5, or The Fever Code, would prove more of a challenge, as that prequel follows Thomas through childhood and details the creation of the Maze. Although the series could cast another actor to play a younger version of Thomas, the later scenes would need Thomas and Teresa as they appear in the earlier films. As the actors have aged and moved on from the franchise, a Fever Code adaptation seems less likely than The Maze Runner 4.
