How Original Naked Gun Star Leslie Nielsen Appears In The 2025 Reboot (Kind Of)

This article contains spoilers for "The Naked Gun."

As legacy sequels have been all the rage over the last couple of decades, it's become common for the stars of the original films to turn up in a years (or decades) later installment. In some cases, they return in an even more increased capacity, such as Michael Keaton's titular ghost with the most in "Beetlejuice Beetlejuice." In most, however, the legacy characters are around to help pass the torch to a newer group of heroes. See, for example, "The Force Awakens" and the "Star Wars" sequel trilogy, "Tron Legacy," "Creed," "Scream," and so on. Then there's the issue of a legacy sequel wanting to use characters who were played by actors who have since passed on. A few films have problematically delved into digital necromancy in order to achieve the desired effect of characters continuing on despite their actors' deaths, as seen in "Ghostbusters: Afterlife" and "Alien: Romulus."

The most ethical choices would be to either let these characters rest along with their original actors or simply recast them with other performers. However, there is a secret third option: bring them back as a reincarnated animal who can then help the new stars defeat the bad guys. That is exactly the tack taken by the new "The Naked Gun," with director/co-writer Akiva Schaffer and co-writers Dan Gregor and Doug Mand finding a way to bring back Leslie Nielsen's Lieutenant Frank Drebin by leaning into the "anything goes" style of absurdist parody previously established in the series. Although the film more than holds its own by centering its story (and its myriad of jokes and bits) around Lt. Frank Drebin Jr. (Liam Neeson), it also recognizes that, in an ideal world, Drebin Sr. would be around to give his progeny some much-needed moral support. As such, Nielsen's Drebin does indeed make a reappearance in "Naked Gun" 2025, only here he's been reincarnated into the body of an owl, and speaks exclusively in subtitled screeches and hoots. To be frank, this choice indeed is a hoot, and helps "The Naked Gun" feel more of a piece with the series as a whole.

Schaffer's "The Naked Gun" isn't a parody of a particular movie per se, but is instead a general parody of action movies as we've known them for the last decade or so. This is in keeping with how the original "Naked Gun" trilogy approached its parody. Where the early movies of co-directors Jim Abrahams, David Zucker, and Jerry Zucker were much more focused in their satire ("Airplane!" taking shots at the "Airport" films and "Zero Hour," for instance) "The Naked Gun" continued the more general focus begun by its initial incarnation as the short-lived TV show "Police Squad!" which was to parody cop shows and movies in a general fashion. As such, while there are deliberate send-ups of things like the "Mission: Impossible" films and even "Basic Instinct" in "Naked Gun" 2025, there's a broad range of elements and tropes that the film satirizes.

Yet while "The Naked Gun" isn't a targeted parody of legacy sequels in the way that, for example, "The Lego Movie" satirizes blockbuster movie structure, it still pokes fun at a particular trope of theirs. Namely, the idea of a legacy character passing the torch, something which Drebin Jr. openly hopes for while kneeling in front of his father's shrine at the "Hall of Legends" in Police Squad headquarters (which is the only time the image of Leslie Nielsen as Drebin is actually seen in the film). Asking if his late father could give him a sign that he was proud of his son, Drebin Jr. suggests he could put an owl in his path, which is what actually happens toward the end of the movie. Drebin Jr. turns out to be even luckier, as it's revealed that this owl isn't just a sign sent from Drebin Sr., but it actually is him, reincarnated to help his son defeat the dastardly Richard Cane (Danny Huston).

So, father gives son a ride on his mighty wings during the climactic chase, and Drebin Jr. can separate Cane from his getaway bike thanks to his owl papa pooping in the villain's face. It's Schaffer and company's subtle, loving poke in the eye at legacy sequels that climax with the old and new characters teaming up against the bad guys. It's as good an example as any of how this film clearly respects the originals without slavishly being devoted to them. Even the blink-and-you'll-miss-it appearance of Drebin Jr.'s mother, Jane (Priscilla Presley), is set up with an earlier moment of Drebin talking with his mom offscreen. Clearly, Schaffer prefers cleverness to fan service.

While Drebin Sr.'s "appearance" in "The Naked Gun" is likely not a reference to anything in particular, it does contribute to what one could argue is an emerging trend. To wit, the idea of a legacy character returning as a completely different object or creature is something which has happened not just in "The Naked Gun," but in David Lynch's final magnum opus, "Twin Peaks: The Return" (aka "Twin Peaks" season 3). In the 1992 prequel film "Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me," musician David Bowie portrayed FBI Special Agent Philip Jeffries, a man who had a close encounter with the supernatural denizens of the mysterious Black Lodge several years before Agent Dale Cooper (Kyle MacLachlan) would. However, by the time Lynch and co-creator Mark Frost were finally ready and able to revive "Twin Peaks" in 2017, Bowie had passed away and was not able to participate in the project despite discussing it with Lynch as it got off the ground.

As it turned out, Bowie had permitted Lynch to reuse footage of the actor from "Fire Walk With Me" on the condition that he be dubbed with a Louisiana voice actor, only Lynch went one better. Not only does Jeffries appear in "The Return," and not only is he voiced by a native New Orleanian (Nathan Frizzell), but he has taken the form of a white glowing orb that's being emitted by a kettle-like machine. Is Frank Drebin Sr.'s avian reappearance in "The Naked Gun" a "Twin Peaks" reference? Doubtful, but combined with Lynch's treatment of Jeffries, we now have a series of characters coming back in legacy sequels in bizarre, surreal new forms. Some might say that this trend won't or can't continue, but I, for one, welcome more legacy sequels taking a surrealistic, thinking-outside-the-box approach like this. Maybe we have to keep it relegated to Leslie Nielsen legacy sequels for now. In which case, perhaps we should get ready for "Re-Repossessed," in which Nielsen's Father Mayii comes back as a bed, or something. 

Hey, it could work!