10 Movie Franchises That Have Never Switched Main Characters

Published Oct 1, 2026, 5:01 PM EDT Cooper Hood is the Associate Editor for all new movie releases, in theaters and on streaming. In addition to writing articles about these titles and upcoming releases, he also oversees content planning for each, ensuring that ScreenRant continues to cover major releases for months after their release. He has written various reviews for ScreenRant that appear on Rotten Tomatoes, coordinated Oscars and San Diego Comic-Con coverage, appeared on CNN to talk about Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning, and done select interviews with talent over the years. Every movie has a primary hero, but as most franchises continue, they switch the lead; that has not been true for these ongoing movie series, as they've refused to change the main characters. Every franchise intends to give audiences a recurring character to follow and grow with. However, the logistics of keeping a single hero at the forefront becomes more complicated as the franchise expands. Star Wars has gone from being about Luke Skywalker to Anakin Skywalker to Rey. The Marvel Cinematic Universe regularly rotates who its main character is. Fast & Furious shifted from a Brian O'Connor-led series to one more so built around Dominic Toretto. Lord of the Rings left Frodo behind to follow Bilbo. Even Harry Potter moved beyond the titular wizard to try to grow the world. As Hollywood looks to keep its biggest IPs running, there is an ever-growing list of franchises switching their main characters. Men in Black, Ocean's, Rocky, Planet of the Apes, Hunger Games, Mad Max, Transformers, John Wick, Scream, Ghostbusters, and even Toy Story have changed who audiences primarily follow over the last decade. In most cases, this switch comes after completing an initial trilogy, with new stars brought in to give audiences a fresh starting point to experience the universe. But not every major IP moves on from its lead character so easily. These 10 movie franchises have never switched main characters, keeping key icons around for the long haul. 10 Indiana Jones Lucasfilm has made five Indiana Jones movies, but they've never strayed away from Harrison Ford's titular hero. Audiences have followed the archeologist as he's found the Ark of the Covenant, the Holy Grail, and alien life. Ford has stuck around into his 80s, with Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny having the iconic character experience time travel. There are currently no plans for Indiana Jones to move on to another hero. Lucasfilm has shown no interest in developing spinoffs for existing characters, like Ke Huy Quan's Shortround, and there will be no legacy sequel following a new character. In fact, the franchise's producers have even said that no one besides Ford will ever play Indy, ruling out a recast to tell more adventures. 9 Mission: Impossible Ethan Hunt has only ever been the main character for Mission: Impossible movies. Tom Cruise made him the central star in the original 1996 spy thriller. That film's success enabled Cruise to return as the Impossible Mission Force agent for seven sequels. The cast around him regularly rotates, but audiences have grown accustomed to Ethan being the hero tasked with saving the world. Ironically, this was not always the plan. Mission: Impossible — Ghost Protocol introduced Jeremy Renner's Brandt so he could become the franchise's new main character. The movie revitalized Cruise's stardom and made him irreplaceable, which is why Hunt stayed around. Brandt slowly faded out of the franchise after the failed succession plan. 8 Bad Boys The Bad Boys movies have only ever revolved around Mike Lowrey (Will Smith) and Marcus Burnett (Martin Lawrence). Audiences were thrilled to watch them as younger, hot-shot cops in Michael Bay's first two films. Sony did not continue the big-screen adventures without them by rebooting the IP. That decision paved the way for Mike and Marcus to come back for two more films this decade. Even though there are other characters in the Bad Boys universe who could lead a new film, Sony has shown no interest in making one that doesn't star Smith and Lawrence's characters. That said, the extended universe did switch main characters, making Gabrielle Union's Syd Burnett the lead of the TV show, L.A.'s Finest. 7 James Bond Image via MGM/MovieStillsDB Multiple actors have had their turn playing James Bond over the decades, and another will join those ranks with Denis Villeneuve's Bond 26. But no matter what has changed about the setting, tone, or actors involved in 007's films, he's been the constant. The franchise has never attempted to expand beyond this particular MI6 spy, nor do they plan to anytime soon. The James Bond franchise only wants movies centered on Ian Fleming's creation. That's part of the reason Ana de Armas' Paloma didn't get a spinoff after No Time To Die or Lashana Lynch's Nomi wasn't turned into the franchise lead, even if she had already taken the 007 title. Until Amazon MGM proves otherwise, Bond will always be the main character. 6 Die Hard MovieStillsDB Bruce Willis created an iconic action hero with John McClane in Die Hard. While it inspired plenty of other stars to rip off the concept with different locations, the official Die Hard sequels remained just for him. Even as Willis got older and the likes of Mary Elizabeth Winstead and Jai Courtney were brought in as McClane's children, the stories always kept John front and center. 20th Century Fox has known that there is no place for more Die Hard movies that don't involve McClane. Plans for a sixth film starring Willis fizzled over the years, and the only other concept ever explored was a prequel/sequel that showed John's origin and current status. There are currently no plans to follow another character or reboot the series. 5 Rambo ©Lionsgate/Courtesy Everett Collection Rambo has only ever existed with Sylvester Stallone playing John Rambo. He's played the veteran with a penchant for stopping bad guys in five movies. The makeup of the franchise made it practically impossible for anyone to ever consider making a film in this universe that didn't keep Rambo as the star. This will remain true, even as Stallone is replaced. 2027 sees Noah Centineo step into the lead role for a film about Rambo's life before the events of First Blood. This is another example of the main character outlasting a specific star, with the studios knowing the only way to keep using this recognizable IP is with more Rambo adventures. 4 Twilight The Twilight movies may have changed a lot throughout the five installments, but centralizing the story around Kristen Stewart's Bella Swan never wavered. She was the central figure as the films followed her from high school and falling for Robert Pattinson's Edward Cullen to becoming a vampire and a mother. The success of the Twilight films did lead Lionsgate to consider ways to move forward, with or without Bella. Ultimately, no new installments have been made in over a decade since the original saga ended. Rather than switching main characters, the most likely future, if any, for Twilight is in rebooting Bella's story. 3 Dune The Dune franchise has been around for decades, spanning two iterations of Paul Atreides, one played by Kyle MacLachlan and the other played by Timothée Chalamet. Through it all, the movies have kept Maud'Dib as the lead, even as Denis Villeneuve's trilogy gave Chani a larger role. While Dune has never changed main characters on the big screen, it has for TV. HBO's Dune: Prophecy makes the Bene Gesserit the stars of its narrative, taking place thousands of years before Paul is even born. If any more Dune movies come after Dune: Part Three, then the franchise will have to give audiences a new protagonist. 2 Maze Runner 20th Century's Maze Runner movies are another example of only following a singular hero. Dylan O'Brien's Thomas is the main character in each of the first three installments, just as the teenager was in the books. This allowed viewers to watch him grow as a leader as he looked to take down WCKD. Thomas' days of leading the Maze Runner franchise are most likely over. There are no firm plans for a fourth film starring O'Brien. Instead, Disney has a new Maze Runner movie in development that is expected to have a new protagonist, if it ever gets made. 1 Back To The Future Credit: MovieStillsDB The Back to the Future franchise has only ever had the same main character, Marty McFly (Michael J. Fox). Audiences were treated to three films of time traveling adventures with him. While Dr. Emmett Brown (Christopher Lloyd) played a pivotal role in each, the stories were always focused on Marty's experiences and consequences of his actions. There has never been any attempts to take Back to the Future beyond its teenage protagonist. A fourth installment following Marty grown up has never transpired, and ideas of rebooting the franchise with a new actor taking over the lead role also have been shot down. Universal has even refrained from a potentially easy cashgrab with an Emmett Brown prequel to avoid switching main characters.