After being absent from the previous entry in the saga, it's unclear whether the original Jigsaw killer John Kramer will return for Saw 10. The torture-filled Saw series, one of James Wan's numerous horror movie franchises, once dominated every Halloween weekend, following the tale of engineer-turned-killer John Kramer and his devices designed to test his subjects' will to live. Though the Saw series had seemingly concluded with Saw: The Final Chapter in 2010, it later continued in 2017 and 2021 with Jigsaw and Spiral: From The Book of Saw, with Saw 10 officially set to debut on October 27, 2023.
The role of John Kramer himself in the Saw franchise has been very different from other horror movie killers, with John afflicted with terminal cancer and being killed off in Saw III in 2006. Despite John's death, the Saw movies continued ahead for the next several years, with Tobin Bell returning through flashbacks and pre-recorded messages. Spiral was the first Saw movie from which John was completely absent, which makes the question of John Kramer's arguably needed presence in Saw 10 a very relevant one.
The title Saw 10 itself implies a return of sorts to the main Saw series, which in turn could hint to Tobin Bell coming back as John Kramer. Normally, a character having been deceased for over a decade would present some obvious challenges in their later return without sci-fi or supernatural story elements. While the Saw series has never employed either, Saw 10 already has plenty of other available methods to facilitate John's return.
How Jigsaw Could Return In Saw 10
The Saw films have been known to adjust the timeline of some movies in order to fit their often very complex running story, particularly in the stories of Saw IV and Jigsaw. With the flexibility of when Saw 10 could be set, the movie could take place either entirely or partially before John's death in Saw III. John's circle of numerous apprentices also could lead Saw 10 to show John as having another previously unrevealed recruit among his followers and provide another avenue for John's return.
John Kramer was also a man with an extreme amount of foresight and propensity for planning ahead, as seen with his many video messages shown in the Saw movies long after his demise. John's continued presence in later Saw movies (save for Spiral) was also maintained through the non-linear story of the Saw movies and their frequent use of flashbacks. Either one or both methods have been used so frequently and could bring John into Saw 10 with such ease that they seem like the most likely method by which John could return.
Once John Kramer had become Jigsaw, he went to great lengths to ensure the legacy of his work would be preserved long after his death. As his continued returns to the Saw movies show, there is no barrier to his ongoing influence on the series bringing him back. How Saw 10 could return John Kramer into the story is not as big of a riddle as it might seem. As the Saw franchise's method of storytelling demonstrates, Saw 10 is not short of ways to make another Jigsaw comeback happen.