Fox Orders Pilot for Jack Bauer-Less 24, Officially Greenlights Prison Break Sequel

Hit the road, Jack (Bauer).

Fox has ordered a pilot for a new 24 series that will not focus on Kiefer Sutherland's original day-saving hero Jack Bauer, the network announced Friday at the Television Critics Association winter previews.

The potential new series, titled 24: Legacy, will tell the story of a military hero who returns to the U.S. with a whole lot trouble following him back. With nowhere else to turn, the man asks CTU to help him save his life while also stopping one of the largest-scale terror attacks on American soil.

A 24 spin-off may be in the works - but where's Jack Bauer?

Like its predecessor, the series, once again executive-produced by Howard Gordon, Manny Coto and Evan Katz, will "retain the real-time, pulse-pounding, fast-paced format with split screens and complex interweaving storylines, with each episode representing one hour of an eventful day," Fox says. The pilot is expected to shoot this winter, but no casting has yet been announced.

Although the new series features an entirely new cast, it remains unclear if Jack Bauer could still make appearances on the new show. Last year, Sutherland told UK newspaper The Telegraph that he has no desire to continue playing Jack Bauer. "Me, I don't see going back to it," he said.

Fox's Emmy-winning 24 ran for eight seasons from 2001 to 2010. It was revived as the event series 24: Live Another Day in the summer of 2014, which, despite ending with Jack Bauer turning himself over to the Russians to save Chloe (Mary Lynn Rajskub), seemingly left the door open for future adventures.

Fox officially confirms Prison Break revival

24 isn't the only Fox series getting new life. The network also announced Friday that it has ordered a Prison Break event series. Fox Chairmen and CEOs Dana Walden and Gary Newman said last summer that creator Paul Scheuring was working on the project, but Friday's announcement confirmed it was officially a go with original stars Wentworth Miller and Dominic Purcell reprising their roles.

"I would describe it as a bit of a sequel," Walden said last summer. "It picks up the characters several years after we left them in the last season of the show. The brothers will be back. Some of the iconic characters from that show will be back. ... It definitely will address some questions that were set up at the end of the series for a new audience."

Details about when the series will air will be announced at a later date. Production will likely have to work around Miller and Purcell's current commitment on DC's Legends of Tomorrow.