When The Bourne Legacy underperformed back in 2012, it didn't take long for rumors of Matt Damon's return to the series for the inevitable Bourne 5. After all, the initial Jason Bourne movie trilogy was marked by both impressive box office and near-universal critical acclaim.

Now that both Damon and director Paul Greengrass are back onboard for the next Bourne installment (which the pair also co-wrote together), anticipation for its release next summer is steadily on the rise. Today brings the next logical step in the film's road to theaters.

Bourne franchise producer Frank Marshall took to his Twitter account to mark the first day of principal photography on Bourne 5. There's not much new information to gather from the image, but it does lend our first on-set look at Damon back in character - and clearly in combat-ready shape for his fourth go-round as Bourne.

Here's the image:

It's an exciting day for fans who may have once thought that Damon's days as Bourne were over. The new film is coming together nicely, and now that production has finally begun, new details on the plot and characters should be coming fast and furious in the coming months. Just last week, Vincent Cassel joined the movie's cast in what may be the primary villain role. However, at this point, there's little concrete information on his character or those played by other new additions like Oscar-winner Tommy Lee Jones and Alicia Vikander (Ex Machina, The Man from U.N.C.L.E.).

Moreover, speculation has run rampant on how the film's narrative will reflect the changing times, as Damon has hinted in the past. The question also remains whether the next installment will attempt to bridge together the story of Damon's Bourne and that of Jeremy Renner's Aaron Cross. We've already received confirmation that a potential follow-up to The Bourne Legacy will be a separate project altogether, and Renner has voiced his own hopes that a cross-over may be in the cards. Perhaps Damon's return in this movie will tease a team-up between his character and Renner's. Only time will tell.

The untitled Bourne 5 will hit theaters on July 29, 2016.

Source: Frank Marshall