According to Nicolas Cage, early discussions for the film centered around the children of Castor Troy and Sean Archer, who grow up to face off against one another in the exact same way that their fathers had. He and John Travolta would also return for this version, which could potentially make for a ridiculous mess of face-swapping to keep up with:
“I think ‘Face/Off’ is a sequel that lends itself to a lot of twists and turns and unpredictability. It’s almost like if you factor in the idea of offspring and Castor and Sean having children and these children grow up, then it becomes like three-dimensional chess, and then it’s not just the two, John Travolta and myself, it’s four of us ping-ponging and going at different levels, and it becomes even more complex. I think there’s a lot of fertile ground there. I had maybe one meeting in an office, but I haven’t heard anything since, so I don’t know.”
Castor Troy had a son in the original “Face/Off,” and that son was adopted by Archer and his wife (Joan Allen) because of a promise Archer made to the kid’s mom (Gina Gershon), so there’s an extra layer of drama there, too. If Castor Troy is somehow alive, despite looking very dead at the end of “Face/Off,” he might be pretty furious that his enemy raised his son. Archer’s own son was killed by Troy, but he does have a daughter in the first film who could maybe face off against her adopted sibling. It’s not exactly clear who’s switching faces here, either, which means the kids and dads could get switched in a “Freaky Friday” meets “Face/Off” nightmare.