The following contains spoilers for The Accountant 2, now playing in theatersThe Accountant 2 takes a minor plot point from the first film and expands it into one of the most intriguing elements of the series. The Accountant films follow Ben Affleck’s Christian Wolff, a skilled accountant and money launderer. Living a solitary life but clearly in search of connections that his autism makes difficult to foster, Christian was a uniquely compelling riff on the action movie hero archetype, an unexpected enforcer who was as brilliant as he was dangerous — and with none of the forced charm that typically dominates lead characters in those kind of movies.

The Accountant 2 is a bigger film in many ways, from the introduction of criminal conspiracies and amnesic ᴀssᴀssins to the return of Christian’s snarky brother Braxton. One of the biggest changes between the two films is the way one aspect of the first movie’s backstory has been given new purpose in the sequel and expanded in an entirely different way. It’s a wild turn for one supporting character that transforms their role in the film’s narrative and could easily serve as the driving force behind any prospective The Accountant 3.

Justine & Harbor’s Neuroscience School Get A Major Upgrade In The Accountant 2

Justine Is A Much More Active Character In The Accountant’s Sequel

The Harbor Neuroscience School established in The Accountant has a more important role in the plot of The Accountant 2, turning it into an academy setting that could expand the franchise in plenty of interesting ways. Harbor Neuroscience was introduced as part of Christian Wolff’s backstory in The Accountant. Diagnosed with autism as a child, Christian almost attended Harbor at the behest of his mother, but his father elected to train him to hone his condition instead. The school was eventually revealed to be the home of his ally Justine, who herself is also portrayed as being on the spectrum.

The Accountant 2 turns Harbor Neuroscience into a more important location in the sequel, serving as a key resource for Christian’s missions. The school, which was revealed to be funded in part by Christian’s donations, has been upgraded in the intervening years. Some of the students train under the more overtly confident Justine, helping analyze information or hack into other tech to ᴀssist in Christian’s missions. While the kids don’t get dialogue, they are afforded great little personality beats that help them stand out from the rest of the supporting cast.

The Accountant Barely Laid The Groundwork For The Sequel’s Justine & School Developments

The Hacker Classes Are A Wild Turn For The Accountant 2 To Introduce

The Accountant introduced Justine as an important ally to Christian, keeping her idenтιтy a secret for much of the film. Given her amazing intellect, crafty approach, and snarky dialogue, Justine made for a solid contrast to the more taciturn Christian. However, there was no indication that she could take the kind of role she plays in The Accountant 2, which reinvents her as a sort of hacker Dumbledore who encourages her students with friendly compeтιтion but does her best to keep the more grisly sights of Christian’s work out of their purview.

Harbor Neuroscience was portrayed as a fairly realistic setting in the first film, a school for children with autism that felt as grounded as much of the film’s approach to the genre. The Accountant 2 is a broader action film, featuring multiple criminal cabals and ᴀssᴀssins. This carries over to Justine’s role, with a class of budding hackers following her instructions and showcasing a flexible enough morality that they’re willing to cross legal lines for potential evidence. It’s a big change from how the school was portrayed in the first film, and could inform the future of the franchise.

The Accountant 2 Enhancing Justine & The School Completely Changes The Franchise

Kids Are Involved, And That Naturally Changes The Stakes Of The Story

Giving Christian a resource like the full Harbor Neuroscience school opens up a lot of potential storytelling avenues for the future of The Accountant franchise. Instead of just having Justine, Christian has an entire team to rely on in his future missions. This is reflective of the film’s overall themes of the bonds between reinforced for the betterment of everyone and helps expand Christian’s lonely world in an important way.

The way Christian wasn’t necessarily treated as a regular child while growing up makes it a telling character detail that he wanted to support the school financially. It serves as one of Christian’s most humanizing connections, precisely because it’s somewhere that he can understand and that can understand him. The fact that some of the kids have decided to thank him by becoming part of his operation is a big deal.

It gives him an off-the-books group to rely on if formal channels like the government can’t help in certain situations. It also presents an interesting moral choice to Christian and Justine going forward. The two have worked for criminal figures in the past, and Christian has proven more than willing to use lethal force when facing off against enemies. The fact that they may be inspiring a new legion of young geniuses who follow in their tracks could put a target on the school or attract the wrong kind of attention.

How The Accountant 3 Can Further Explore Justine & Her School Children

A Potential Sequel Could Use The School As A Springboard For New Story Beats

Director Bill Dubuque has already said that The Accountant 3 is in development, which could easily build on the second film’s expansion of Justine and her students. The children could become a crucial ally in their operation, ᴀssisting Justine in her technical support of Christian’s missions. As seen by their acceptance of Alberto to their ranks at the end of the film, their acceptance of other kids could create a natural way to introduce characters. Even beyond new students, this could be a natural way to introduce other teachers or parents to the children that could impact the plot.

The fact that the school is employing children to carry out criminal acts could get them targeted by the authorities if they’re discovered, putting pressure on Justine and cutting off Christian from crucial technical support he often relies on. Christian could even become invested in preparing the students in his own combat experience. This could easily expand to new characters or different kinds of representation. A hacker school in The Accountant universe is full of fertile storytelling potential. The expansion of Harbor Neuroscience was a big turn in The Accountant 2 and push the story into plenty of new directions.