Quentin Tarantino has dangled the possibility of a Kill Bill 3 for years — almost twenty years, to be exact. His two-part (but one film in spirit) martial arts epic from 2003 starred Uma Thurman as the Bride, aka Beatrix Kiddo, a former assassin and wronged woman out for murderous revenge after she was left for dead on her wedding day. In line with Tarantino’s love for homage, Kill Bill: Volume 1 and Volume 2 contain elements of samurai films and Spaghetti Westerns, specifically drawing inspiration from the 1973 Japanese film Lady Snowblood. Those components combine into a wall-to-wall bloody masterpiece of aggressively stylized feminine rage with fights choreographed by industry legend Yuen Woo-Ping, an anime sequence, and an abundance of color as vivid as it is gore-splattered. And after all of that massacring, the best scenes are Tarantino to the core: two people talking across a table, years of anger and love grafting tension from thin air.
COLLIDER VIDEO OF THE DAYSCROLL TO CONTINUE WITH CONTENT

The Original Plan for ‘Kill Bill: Volume 3’

Image via Miramax Films

Volume 2 concludes optimistically, as Beatrix and her daughter B.B. escape Bill’s (David Carradine) clutches in pursuit of their well-deserved happily ever after. As early as 2004, the year Volume 2 debuted in theaters, Tarantino revealed his interest in making a third entry set at least a decade down the narrative road. Volume 3 would follow Nikki (Ambrosia Kelley), the now-adult daughter of Vernita Green (Vivica A. Fox), a member of the Deadly Viper Assassination Squad and one of Beatrix’s victims. At only four years old, Nikki was present for Vernita’s murder and left with her mother’s dead body. Although Beatrix doesn’t regret killing Vernita, she shows the little girl compassion. If Nikki “feel[s] raw about it” when she’s older and wants to exact vengeance, Beatrix will be waiting.

According to Tarantino’s plan, Nikki indeed still feels raw about losing her mother and begins her revenge quest against Beatrix. She’s not alone in her goals, either; characters like Elle Driver (Daryl Hannah), Sofie Fatale (Julie Dreyfus), and Gogo Yubari’s (Chiaki Kuriyama) identical twin sister (because why not?) all seek vengeance for Beatrix’s rampage.

“Initially I was thinking this would be my Dollars Trilogy,” the director said in 2004, referring to Italian director Sergio Leone’s Spaghetti Western saga starring Clint Eastwood. “I was going to do a new one every 10 years. But I need at least 15 years before I do this again.”

The director still aimed to make Volume 3 as of 2009. He intended it as his ninth film, but that number instead went to the Oscar-winning Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. Come 2012, he admitted that a third movie was off the table. Smash-cut to 2015, and although Tarantino was hesitant, he didn’t rule out returning to the Kill Bill-verse after all. Four years later, he and Thurman had circled back around and discussed the possibilities inherent to Volume 3: “If any of my movies were going to spring from my other movies,” he said, “it would be a third Kill Bill.”

RELATED: The 8 Best Female-Led Martial Arts Movies

Maya Hawke Joins the Party…Maybe

Tarantino not only reiterated the likelihood of Volume 3 in 2021 but was “f***ing excited” at the possibility of Thurman’s daughter Maya Hawke playing B.B. The premise of cyclical revenge remained unchanged, and events would pick up two decades (give or take) after audiences last saw Beatrix and her child. Hawke, who “grew up around Quentin and around those movies,” is smack dab in the right age range and has already established herself as a compelling talent. Add in the uncanny resemblance to her mother, and how cool would it be for her to step into her mother’s shoes?

Tarantino isn’t the only interested party; Vivica A. Fox suggested Zendaya for the role of Nikki and reprised her role as Vernita earlier this year for singer SZA’s aptly named song “Kill Bill.” However, Thurman expressed doubt in early 2022 about the project happening any time soon.

Why Did ‘Kill Bill: Volume 3’ Never Happen?

Image via Miramax Films

So where does this back-and-forth-conundrum leave Kill Bill 3? Affirmatives and negatives appeared and disappeared like so many ninja assassins over twenty years. Tarantino shared some insight into why Volume 3 never manifested while promoting his book version of Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. The director admitted he hadn’t pursued other stories in the Kill Bill universe because making both movies had exhausted him. Even with his creative enthusiasm and outlined concepts, a properly made Volume 3 was too intimidating to tackle at the time.

Do We Need Another Kill Bill Movie at This Point?

Image via Miramax Films

The lingering question is: do we need a continuation? Beatrix and B.B. literally driving off into the sunset is a surprisingly happy ending given the world Beatrix inhabits, and goodness knows she deserves it. On the flip side, if her creator always intended for future installments and the stories are worthwhile (and Thurman wants to return), by all means, cue the “Ironside” sirens and the Hattori Hanzō sword. Legacy characters are part and parcel of the age of reboots, and as old as it makes some of us feel, Beatrix Kiddo counts as a legacy character if Tarantino decides to re-conclude her story.

What makes “the whole bloody affair” (as he titled an un-cut mash-up of Volume 1 and Volume 2) tricky is Tarantino’s planned retirement following his recently announced tenth film, The Critic. Kill Bill: Volume 3 would be an exception, but time has proven how the writer-director’s mind frequently changes. Sometimes even the most successful of creators can’t achieve all they reach for, especially one with an imagination as vivid as Tarantino’s. There’s no harm in that, especially with the body of work he leaves behind. Regardless, it’s clear that whether Volume 3 makes it to screens or remains a daydream for fans, Tarantino’s never taken the project lightly. How appropriate, for the “deadliest woman in the world.