Warning: This article contains plot spoilers for The Divergent Series: Insurgent and for the book.
Even though the filmmakers opted out of casting Lynn for the first Divergent movie, they brought in Rosa Salazar to take the role of the Dauntless-born initiate in the sequel, The Divergent Series: Insurgent. However, if you’ve read the book, you know that Lynn doesn’t do anywhere near as much in the movie as she does in the book, including die. Whereas Lynn goes out in a heartfelt blaze of glory in the book, she’s seemingly perfectly fine at the end of the movie.
The Divergent Series: Insurgent is a book-to-film adaptation. Of course there are going to be changes, but unfortunately, absolutely nothing will become of this one. Here’s what Salazar told me when I asked if she’s getting a bigger role in the Allegiant films at Comic-Con:
“I’m not going to be in Allegiant at all.”
I wasn’t surprised when Lynn survived Insurgent. Salazar is definitely on the rise, especially with the second Maze Runner movie coming out. It’d be a smart move for the studio to keep her around. However, clearly that’s not what’s happening and Salazar’s exit calls some of the other new characters’ involvement into question as well. Is there any point in keeping Emjay Anthony’s Hector around without Lynn? And what about Uriah? The studio made a point of putting Keiynan Lonsdale in the spotlight during the promotional campaign, so I imagine he’s not going anywhere, but I doubt the character will make as strong an impact in the Allegiant films without his relationships with some of these forgotten supporting characters.
Taking Lynn out of the equation most certainly isn’t a deal breaker, but it is disappointing. First off, I’m a fan of Salazar’s and think she’s got a lot to offer and, second, Divergent is a film series. You’re doing a disservice to the big picture if you’re introducing fan favorite characters and then not even touching what made them stand out in the source material. I’ll be curious to see if anyone even mentions Lynn’s existence in The Divergent Series: Allegiant - Part 1, and I’m betting no one will.
