There’s no guarantee that the final project in Summit Entertainment and Lionsgate’s adaptation of the “Divergent” series, which would have covered the last few chapters of Veronica Roth’s “Allegiant” under the title “Ascendant,” would have adhered to Roth’s canon. “Ascendant” began its life as a Part 2 without Roth’s consent before it was downgraded to a television movie … before it was downgraded again to a television show … before it was canceled altogether. While Roth was not allowed the final say on these changes, she was at least kept informed, which is more than the onscreen talent can say. Both Shailene Woodley and Miles Teller have gone on the record to say that they learned about the cancellation the same way that fans did.
It’s important to dredge up these little factoids because it paints a picture of what the studios were willing to do. If Summit and Lionsgate were dead-set on reworking “Ascendant” over and over until something wallet-friendly stuck, how do you think they would have handled Tris’ controversial death? They changed plenty of other things from Roth’s original narrative, and with that in mind, it’s not unlikely that Tris would’ve survived her epic sacrifice play so that she and Four could’ve lived happily ever after for the ticket-purchasing audiences. And where would that leave Christina? Who knows … but her ending would’ve been unrecognizable, maybe even nonexistent.
