The day has finally arrived. Steve Burton is back on General Hospital in the middle of another mob war as if no time has passed since Jason was buried beneath the rubble in a Cassadine Island tunnel. Since a body was never found, we knew he'd be back to tell more of Jason's story -- and Burton couldn't be happier to return to the soap he's called home on and off (but mostly on) since 1992.
"When you fall into a character that you can have fun [with], do what you love to do, performance-wise, get to do the stunts, be involved in cool story, be involved with great actors -- it's really just a dream character for me," Burton told Soap Opera Digest.
As soon as his return was announced on the GH primetime special, General Hospital: 60 Years of Stars and Storytelling, fans took to social media to theorize how Jason returns and what happens to him next.
"I love the speculation. I love how invested people are in this and they'll be dying on their sword that they're right!" the actor said. "I happened to talk to a fan and she was like, 'So, this is what it is. You're doing this, then this happens.' I go, 'Hey, guess what? None of that is right! So, watch March 4th!'"
Apparently, the powers that be at GH had several things in mind for Jason's return, and the original story they came up with did not make it to air.
"Listen, I've never been a guy to dictate story," Burton said. "I've never been somebody going, 'Hey, I can't or won't do this.' If there was anything I needed, it was always on the day [an episode was shot], like, 'Hey, this is not really working, can we change something?' [Then], there was a head writer switch. So apparently there was a whole different story planned and then the head writer switch happened and then they kind of rebooted."
Jason's love life is another hot topic, as three fanbases want him for their faves. Elizabeth fans want Jason and Elizabeth to finally have a shot; Sam fans have not given up on Jason being the love of her life; and Carly fans want Jason and Carly to pick up where they left off on their wedding night that never was.
"Some of those fan wars got pretty nasty, you know, and obviously none of us wanted that, but it was what it was," Burton told Digest. "I think so much time has passed now. I'm hoping that, you know, maybe the show can kind of tease it and see what happens. I don't know what the plan is, but again, I'm just gonna do whatever the head writers write and we'll see where it takes us."
As of now, the "business" seems to be taking center stage, as it looks like Jason -- calling himself "Jacobs" (after his son, Jacob?) is the one behind the recent rash of mob hits in Port Charles -- which means he is the one gunning for Sonny Corinthos, something that seems unthinkable considering Jason and Sonny's decades-long relationship.
Clearly, there is more to this story than meets the eye, and we can't wait to watch it all play out.
What do you think? What is Jason really up to now that he is back? We want to hear from you -- so drop your comments in the Comments section below, tweet about it on Twitter, share it on Facebook, or chat about it on our Message Boards.
