As for why Ed Neumeier and Michael Miner’s RoboCop Returns script wasn’t used for RoboCop 2, Neumeier told Deadline that at the time, director Paul Verhoeven wasn’t interested in the “the politics of a sequel.”
While not 100% clear, it sounds like RoboCop Returns will be taking the Halloween route by directly following the original RoboCop and ignoring the other sequels that came before.
As most of you reading know, the original RoboCop was a critical and commercial success that spawned two sequels, with Peter Weller reprising the eponymous role for 1990’s RoboCop 2 and Robert John Burke taking over for 1993’s RoboCop 3.
Decades later, MGM contacted Neumeier about creating franchise material for the studio, and now his and Miner’s other RoboCop story is finally being brought to life, albeit with some changes.