The Disney+ series National Treasure: Edge of History won’t see Nicolas Cage play Ben Gates again, but the character still exists in that universe according to a recent reference that seems to hint at more to come. The National Treasure streaming series, which continues the National Treasure film series, focuses on a new ensemble that includes Lisette Olivera, Zuri Reed, Antonio Cipriano, Jake Austin Walker, and Catherine Zeta-Jones. For the Disney+ series, Harvey Keitel and Justin Bartha both play the same characters from the original films, tying the threads together.
In the most recent episode of the programme, Bartha, who is returning as Riley, made a blatant allusion to Cage’s Ben Gates. Riley replies that he’s still cooperating with Ben when asked whether he’s been working on any new treasure hunts before making a specific allusion to National Treasure: Book of Secrets. You may watch the movie below to see the Ben Gates allusion, which Disney+ has released to YouTube.
Riley describes what he and Ben are doing right now as “not retired.” “For the past three, four, or fifteen years, Ben and I have been working on this really essential issue.”
Riley says, “Let’s just say there are 47 reasons to be intrigued,” when asked whether it’s another hidden treasure.
In National Treasure: Book of Secrets, the 2007 follow-up to the 2004 original movie, the number 47 has special meaning. In the film, Riley and Ben find a hidden journal that has writings from several presidents across time. There are numerous significant mysteries inside its pages, including one discovery on page 47 that is allegedly “life-altering,” but whatever this was isn’t disclosed in the movie. The information Riley and Ben discovered may be expanded upon in a third National Treasure film, but for now, mentioning the number just acts as an Easter egg for the first two movies.
