Metal Gear Solid movie director Vogt-Roberts recently did an interview with Eurogamer in which he made some extremely interesting statements.
This only leaves me with a single conclusion: the movie will utilize Virtual Reality simulations to explain how Raiden/Jack can jump in between missions that are decades apart and carried out by different men. By becoming Solid Snake and Big Boss in lifelike VR scenarios, Raiden would be able to conduct research, train himself, and probably solve some kind of problem related to the Patriots. There’s no other Metal Gear plot device that could “fuse” the different game stories together. Judging by how much Vogt-Roberts is pushing for a wacky, “post-Deadpool” style of film that will betray audiences and commit to weirdness… this is looking extremely plausible.
Vogt-Roberts says that Metal Gear shaped his creativity in some ways, and that the weirdness of it was essential to his enjoyment. He wants to carry on the tradition of embracing controversial visions, and the VR plot gimmick is one of the only things in the history of the series that could truly polarize the fanbase. Some people would love it, others would hate it. Raiden is the fulcrum point of the whole series, and the only one who was in a position to jump back and forth between missions that he never actually experienced.
For myself (the guy who spread the “VR Theory” in the first place) the prospect of seeing the first major Metal Gear film subvert the reality of the missions like this would be hilarious.