Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery is set to premiere in a few days at the Toronto International Film Festival, and Netflix has been ramping up promotions lately for the hotly-anticipated thriller.

Like its 2019 predecessor, Knives Out, Glass Onion also boasts an ensemble cast comprising Daniel Craig, Edward Norton, Kathryn Hahn, Janelle Monáe, Leslie Odom Jr., Jessica Henwick, Kate Hudson, Dave Bautista, Ethan Hawke, and Madelyn Cline. The makers have been tight-lipped about the characters so far, but we finally have details on the new batch of suspects, along with some brand-new stills from Glass Onion (courtesy of Empire Magazine). You can check out the photos below.

MOVIEWEB VIDEO OF THE DAY

Now coming to the characters, first up is The Incredible Hulk’s Edward Norton, who’s at the center of Glass Onion’s plot. He stars as a tech billionaire Miles Bron, who invites his closest friends to his scenic private island in Greece for a “murder-mystery game that gets a little too real.”

Hamilton star Leslie Odom Jr. plays a scientist, Lionel Toussaint, who works for Bron. Odom Jr. hints at “complicated relationships” between the characters. “As fraught as we arrive on that island in Greece at the start of this film, that’s now where we began. Love is complicated, friendships can be complicated.”

Kathryn Hahn plays Claire Debella, a Connecticut governor running for the Senate. Writer-Director Rian Johnson describes her as someone who " pisses everyone off, and is trying to thread the needle in many different ways, in terms of her public persona and what she’s willing to compromise in order to stay in office."

Dave Bautista, who can be seen facing off with Norton in one of the images, plays a YouTube star, Duke Cody with Outer Banks star Madelyn Cline as his girlfriend and assistant, Whiskey.

Kate Hudson plays a fashion designer named Birdie Jay, with Jessica Henwick as her assistant Peg. Lastly, Janelle Monáe stars as another tech entrepreneur, Cassandra “Andi” Brand.

There is still no word on Ethan Hawke’s mystery character, and he was missing from the recently released first-look images as well. Hawke has also refrained from talking about the project, although he did confirm last year that his role was “strictly a cameo.”

Could Hawke’s character be the murder victim? All signs point towards that, but we can’t be certain. It could be possible that Johnson and Hawke are trying to throw us off and have more riveting surprises awaiting us. After all, Johnson is notorious for “subverting expectations.”

Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery Will Feature More of Daniel Craig’s Benoit Blanc

     Netflix

Unlike Knives Out, which had Ana de Armas as the central protagonist, Glass Onion will unfold through the eyes of Daniel Craig’s eccentric detective, Benoit Blanc. However, Glass Onion’s main focus will still be the new suspects, and Rian Johnson plans to keep Blanc’s origins ambiguous, emphasizing rather on his investigative skills, he told Empire.

Johnson also teased that Glass Onion, like Knives Out, won’t skimp on social commentary either, this time addressing the income divide instead of dysfunctional family relationships.

“There’s definitely more Blanc, but it’s not very interesting to me, the notion of building out Benoit’s life. Like with Poirot and Miss Marple, what’s fun is how the elements of Benoit’s character reveal themselves through his act of solving each one of these mysteries.”

Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery will have a limited release in November before streaming on Netflix on December 23, 2022.