Warning: SPOILERS for The Accountant 2.

While The Accountant 2 adds a great new female character to its roster, it’s hard to get over the fact that Anna Kendrick’s Dana Cummings is never even mentioned once. Most of the players from the original movie appear in The Accountant 2 cast as well, with Jon Bernthal’s role in particular receiving a mᴀssive boost in importance. After The Accountant’s ending, it makes a certain amount of sense that Dana might not be among them. Her story did end rather conclusively, and she even got a cool new living room decoration out of it.

But she definitely helped form the heart of the movie. Characters like Dana are essential screenwriting tools for helping audiences see into other characters’ minds, as exemplified by her dynamic with Chris. In a sense, Braxton is actually the one filling Dana’s shoes in the sequel by helping the audience peer more deeply into Chris. Medina does a fair amount of the same. Nonetheless, while The Accountant 2’s ending makes way for Dana’s return, this movie’s lack of Anna Kendrick is sorely felt.

The Accountant 2 Completely Ignores Anna Kendrick’s Danna Cummings Absence

Medina’s The Only Person Who Even Mentions Living Robotics

Like the first movie, the sequel revolves around Chris following his moral code to help a woman in need. Daniella Pineda’s Anaïs character in The Accountant 2 is that woman, even if Christian doesn’t know that for at least half the movie. But while the sequel definitely has a fair amount of its own story to pack into a little over two hours, it feels odd that his role in helping Dana Cummings in the last movie is never mentioned at all. What makes it stranger is that the movie even presents the perfect opportunity for Dana to come up.

After J.K. Simmons’ Ray King dies in The Accountant 2 opening, Medina tracks down Chris to help find out why he was killed. But she’s uneasy because she’s seen footage of Chris gunning down Living Robotics’ security team in the first movie. Since her conversation with Ray in that film establishes that Christian’s violence hinges on a moral code, Medina’s reference to Living Robotics gives Chris a chance to mention that he was doing it to save Dana. He doesn’t simply murder people out of a strong contempt for white-collar crimes. Nevertheless, her name goes unmentioned.

Why Anna Kendrick’s Dana Cummings Isn’t In The Accountant 2

She Was Never Even Considered For A Sequel Appearance

It’s not clear why she’d even return. ᴀssuming she didn’t sell the Jackson Pollack and retire, she’s hopefully found a job at a less evil company. Based on his recent career, just about any company that isn’t run by John Lithgow’s character should do nicely. And, especially after the long gap between The Accountant and The Accountant 2, Chris needed to repair his relationship with Braxton before he could realistically explore relationships with others. It would rub salt in the wound if he waited eight years to call his brother just to spend half the movie hanging out with another accountant.

The Accountant 2’s Story Helps Set Up How Anna Kendrick Can Return In The Accountant 3

Her Relationship With Chris Might Look A Lot Different Now

Perhaps he never considered Dana for The Accountant 2, but O’Connor has at least made some promising remarks about Anna Kendrick’s return in The Accountant 3. In fact, the first sequel actually does quite a bit to set that up. As O’Connor points out, one of the main themes in The Accountant 2 is that Chris is beginning to open up and look for human connection. He largely does that with Braxton, learning to thank him without prompting from Medina and inviting him to go on a hiking trip together at the end of the movie.

But if the goal is for Chris and Dana to potentially start a romance together, Chris has taken some great strides in that department as well. One of the film’s most entertaining scenes is when Chris has to use his analytical mind to pick up line dancing so he can impress a woman at a bar and get her number. He’s a very different character by the end of The Accountant 2, to the point that Dana would likely have trouble recognizing him as the man she met eight years ago. That could make for a rather interesting reunion.