Bam Margera Should Be In Jackass 4.5 - Will Deleted Scenes Appear?
Bam Margera's absence from Jackass Forever has been well publicized, but the original Jackass cast member - and founder of the whole franchise - needs to be included in Jackass 4.5 in a much bigger way. The question now is whether Johnny Knoxville, Jeff Tremaine, and the Jackass crew will actually use more of the footage they shot of Margera in the upcoming alternate cut of Jackass Forever. If there's any justice, Margera's missing footage will be restored and his part in planning some of the stunts will be more overtly celebrated.
The trend of MTV Films releasing special cuts of Jackass movies several months after the initial releases and calling them Jackass 2.5, 3.5, and now 4.5 was born with Jackass Number Two, when Knoxville and co realized they had filmed more than enough for two versions of the movie. Combining deleted scenes and behind-the-scenes Jackass footage, the alternate cuts aren't so much director's cuts as glorified bonus features, usually released for home release. Jackass 4.5 is releasing straight to Netflix, following the same trend, with Johnny Knoxville and Jeff Tremaine promising lots of new footage. That much is obviously good news for Jackass fans.
Jackass 4.5 also has a responsibility to fill in one of the gaps of Jackass Forever, by reinstating the lost footage of Bam Margera and actually acknowledging his part in the movie. While Bam Margera was fired from Jackass Forever for an alleged violation of a wellness clause, he was included in the final movie, albeit in one single stunt. He didn't receive an on-screen name graphic and as an added insult, he was billed 45th in the end credits (of 49 names), reflecting just how little he was involved in the final cut. But according to Margera, he was involved more heavily as he was in every Jackass movie previously, not only filming more stunts but also planning some of the ones that were used in the final cut, according to his case against the Jackass filmmakers and cast. Even if the extent of that involvement can't be clarified easily, Margera was clearly involved behind-the-scenes and with Jackass 4.5 telling the production story as much as offering deleted scenes, he really should be in there.
Bad blood is a difficult thing to overcome, and Bam Margera's case against Knoxville, Jeff Tremaine, and Spike Jonze will no doubt be a bitter pill to swallow for the litigants, but there's emotion on Margera's side too. Putting that aside, Margera was one of the key founders for Jackass' first season, and his CKY crew (alongside original Jackass performers Ryan Dunn, Chris Raab, Rake Yohn, Brandon DiCamillo, and Jess Margera) were doing what would become a staple of the Jackass brand before the 2000 show kicked off. According to Margera, some of those CKY stunts were actually used in Jackass season 1, which underlines exactly the important role Margera played. Sadly, of the CKY crew, only Chris Raab - Raab Himself - is involved beyond Margera, with the others only featured in archive footage.
Jackass 4.5 probably won't show the fallout of Bam Margera's firing from Jackass Forever, or chronicle it as it happened, but it feels only right that fans should get to see what the original prankster brought to the production. Whether that is likely remains to be seen, because the manner of his sidelining in Jackass Forever felt so pointed. The difference with Jackass 4.5, of course, is that it comes with the label of deleted scenes, so that may change things, but it's hard to see a big involvement from Margera. And that's a real shame. Seeing the other original cast 20 years later and how they've changed since the original series and even since Jackass 3 is a big part of the nostalgic appeal of Jackass Forever and with Ryan Dunn already tragically missing, having another original left out feels wrong. Jackass 4.5 should be the means to rectify that, at least slightly.