More about Jason Bourne

Jason Charles Bourne (real name David Webb) is a fictional character in the novels of Robert Ludlum and subsequent film adaptations. He first appeared in the novel The Bourne Identity (1980). This novel was first adapted for television in 1988, and then adapted on film in 2002 under a title of the same name.


The character has been in seven sequel novels (the last five of which are written by Eric Van Lustbader). Along with the first feature film, The Bourne Identity (2002), Jason Bourne also appears in two sequel movies The Bourne Supremacy (2004) and The Bourne Ultimatum (2007). Actor Matt Damon has signed a contract to reprise his portrayal of Jason Bourne in a third sequel to be released in 2010 (working title Bourne 4).



Jason Bourne has a tormented past, which continues to influence him throughout his lifetime. Jason Bourne is but one of many aliases used by David Webb. Webb is a career foreign service officer and a specialist in Far Eastern affairs. Before the events in The Bourne Identity, Webb had a Thai wife named Dao and two children named Joshua and Alyssa in Phnom Penh, the capital of Cambodia. Webb's wife and two children were inadvertently killed during the Vietnam War when an aircraft strayed into Cambodia, dropped two bombs and strafed a spot near the Mekong River. Due to Cambodia's neutrality in the war, every nation disclaimed the plane, and therefore no one took responsibility for the incident. Since he had nothing left, Webb went to Saigon and elected to train for an elite Top Secret Special Forces unit called Medusa, which would remain a Top Secret unit for many years. In Medusa, Webb was known only as Delta One, his code name within the unit.



David Webb's life was consumed by his membership in Medusa. Webb was recruited into Medusa during Vietnam by friend and CIA officer Alexander Conklin after the death of Webb's wife and children. Webb was furious with the tragedy of his loss, and sought revenge by joining Medusa. Webb blamed the North Vietnamese for the death of his family. Medusa remained Top Secret in order to conceal the criminal histories of many of its members, who were identified by the American government during the war. Initially Medusa was designed to infiltrate parts of Northern Vietnam, and kill suspected members of the Viet Cong and its collaborators. Medusa was considered an assassination team or death squad. Each member of Medusa was paid for their work performing assassinations for the United States Government.