The sci-fi film Jumper was released in 2008, and while it wasn’t well received by critics, plans for a sequel were there from the beginning - so what happened with Jumper 2? Based on the novel of the same name written by Steven Gould, Jumper followed David Rice (Hayden Christensen), a man with the ability to teleport, who is chased by a secret society that targets “jumpers” with the intention of exterminating them.
Jumper was directed by Doug Liman, who was already an experienced filmmaker in the action genre, but this film wasn’t as well received as expected. Most critics pointed out how different it was from the source material, the rushed plot (or lack of it, according to some viewers), and how little sense it made - whatever that means for a story focused on teleportation. Prior to the start of filming, New Regency Productions announced plans for more Jumper films, but they had to go through some changes.
The Jumper novel has three sequels: Reflex (2004), which continues the story of David and Millie as adults, Impulse (2013), which follows their daughter, Cent, and Exo (2014). In between sequels is the short story Shade (2008), which takes place after the events of Reflex. By the time Jumper was in production, Reflex was already out, so there was material for potential sequels. Although Jumper received mostly negative reviews, the film did fairly well at the box office, which was more than enough reason for Liman and company to truly consider moving forward with their ideas for a sequel. But time passed by, other projects got in the way, and Jumper 2, as a film, never happened.
In 2016, a “sequel” to Jumper was announced - but as a series for YouTube’s streaming platform. Titled Impulse, and loosely based on the novel of the same name, the series works more as a spinoff than a sequel, but reunited those who liked the film with the concept of “jumpers” and the implications of having this ability. Impulse has Liman as producer and director, and the reason why he decided to focus on it instead of a proper Jumper sequel is because he wanted to do what he wasn’t able to in the film. Liman’s creative freedom was restricted by the studio, and he saw Impulse as an opportunity to address the concept of the book series the way he wanted to.
Given that Impulse was renewed for a second season and remains popular on YouTube, it's highly unlikely that Liman will pursue a theatrical Jumper sequel; it's been far too long now. Had there been a proper Jumper film sequel, it probably wouldn’t have been able to fix the first film’s mistakes, instead continuing an already flawed story with underdeveloped characters. YouTube is giving Liman and the story a freedom they couldn’t have on the big screen, and while Impulse is more a tie-in than a direct sequel, it’s so much better than no sequel at all.