Jason Bourne is one of the big guns in our summer preview.

The name’s Bourne, Jason Bourne…

It’s been nine years since Jason Bourne crashed and smashed his way into multiplexes in The Bourne Ultimatum, and for a while there it looked like star Matt Damon and director Paul Greengrass were done with the franchise: The Bourne Legacy, the fourth film in the franchise, introduced fellow spy Aaron Cross (Jeremy Renner) in the hope that audiences would swap their allegiances. A worldwide box office of $276m ( Ultimatum took $443m) suggested that not enough viewers were willing to make the leap.

Well, guess who’s back? And, judging from the 30-second teaser that launched during Super Bowl 50, he’s leaner and meaner than ever, with Damon in the best fighting shape of his life as he literally throws himself into fights and motorbike chases.

“I’m thrilled that Paul wanted to do it,” Damon tells Total Film. “Bourne has been gone for years, so the big questions are, ‘Where’s he been, what’s he been up to, and why has he come back?’ We didn’t want a movie until we could answer those things.”

Just how Damon and Greengrass, who both penned the script along with fellow series stalwart Christopher Rouse, choose to answer these things is not yet open to scrutiny – the plot is classified. We do know, however, that the frantic action will be firmly entrenched in a world that speaks to the financial meltdowns of the past few years, and there’s also the guarantee of a post-Edward Snowden vibe, which makes sense given Ultimatum saw an off-the-grid Bourne blowing the whistle on the Treadstone program that created him.

“So much has changed in the world since 2007, especially in the intelligence sphere, so the character can definitely speak to that stuff,” nods Damon.

If that’s not enough to excite you, there’s also the return of Julia Stiles as Nicky Parsons, plus new franchise faces Alicia Vikander, Vincent Cassel and Tommy Lee Jones (if he of the saddlebag visage can ever be described as a ‘new face’). Best of all, though, is the promise of the biggest and fiercest action sequences in the series thus far – cars flip, Las Vegas’ strip comes in for a serious pummelling, and Bourne is rougher and readier than ever. “I’m 45 – it’s much, much harder [ to get into shape],” smirks Damon. “I turned 30 on the first one.”

So, now that Bourne is back with a vengeance, can we expect future assignments… and perhaps even that long-rumoured team-up between Bourne and Cross? “I don’t know,” Damon shrugs. “Jeremy is one of my favourite actors working, so the idea is really exciting. If there was an organic way that those characters could come together...” He laughs. “Never say never.” Jamie Graham