Knives Out was an instant hit when it was released in 2019. With stunning cinematic visuals, witty writing, and a mystery that kept viewers guessing to the end, Knives Out was more than deserving of a sequel. The short theatrical release of Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery launched it to the top of the box office, with some reports speculating that the Netflix film earned $13 million during its short time in theaters. Since arriving on Netflix on December 23, Glass Onion has been at the top of the streaming platform’s most-watched films.

With so much love for Rian Johnson’s murder mystery series and a third film already in the works, fans want to know what could happen next in the thrilling series. With the first two installments tied together by the detective character Benoit Blanc and not much else, there is plenty of room for speculation on what could take place in the third film.

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Knives Out: A Twisting Series of Conundrums

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Each film in the Knives Out series focuses on a different cast and a new, exciting murder mystery. The binding thread of this anthology film series is the detective Benoit Blanc, played by Daniel Craig. The character of Blanc is that of a classic detective, straight out of Sherlock Holmes or an Agatha Cristie novel. The only difference is Knives Out takes place in the present day, with Glass Onion occurring during the height of COVID-19.

Each mystery is self-contained, allowing for an enjoyable viewing experience. The third film should be no different, and it seems likely it will follow a new group of characters in a different time and place, save for our favorite detective Blanc. Johnson described his vision for the Knives Out franchise earlier this year.

Surprise and delight are two words that feel quite apt for describing the Knives Out films. Each mystery unfolds smoothly and features a cast of characters who are as deep and nuanced as real people are. In a third installment, Johnson seems eager to continue that theme. We could see a brand-new mystery for Blanc to solve with an entirely new cast… Or perhaps, there is another twist to consider.

“Part of the fun of these things is the idea that they’re not sequels, they’re completely new books and they’re completely new stories. To me, the idea for the next one — and I’m going to try to stay in this state of mind as I write it — it’s not about trying to top the previous one, it’s about just trying to create something that surprises us and thus hopefully will surprise the audience and thus delight the audience.”

Knives Out: Returning to Fan Favorites

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The characters in the Knives Out series are deeply complex and fun to watch, which is part of what makes the series so compelling. Fan favorite Marta Cabrera (Ana de Armas) from the first film was a great ally in solving the mystery of Harlan Thrombey’s (Christopher Plummer) murder, making her a character many wanted to see again in the sequel. In Glass Onion, Blanc finds himself a new collaborator to solve the mystery with, and her role is just as compelling as Marta’s. In a third installment, these two co-detectives could return to aid Blanc’s next case.

Or, perhaps, Johnson has been teasing the mystery in Knives Out 3 for quite some time. When Blanc arrives at the pier in Glass Onion, he is greeted with recognition; not for the case of Harlan Thrombey, but for that of a ballerina. Such a case hasn’t been discussed before in the franchise, but when paired with a statue of ballerinas in Blanc’s home, the pieces begin to fall into place. This could be a hint towards the next film being a prequel, taking us back to the early days of Blanc’s career, perhaps. Such a compelling character deserves to be further explored, and if Johnson goes the route of a prequel, his frequent use of flashbacks throughout the Knives Out franchise could be put to an interesting use.

With two characters from different installments of the franchise both recalling a New Yorker article about Blanc, perhaps the case covered in that article is the one that truly put Blanc on the map. If so, it would certainly be a fun one to explore in the series’ final planned installment.

By the nature of the anthology series, it’s hard to predict where Johnson might take Knives Out 3. Plenty of fans would love to see Marta return, and we were certainly fans of his newest co-detective in Glass Onion. Will Knives Out 3 see Blanc up against a case he can’t solve alone? Or will we get a window into the mysterious detective’s past to uncover the truth about Blanc’s fame and origins.

Whatever the case, we are excited to find out more about what Knives Out 3 might have in store – and uncover the mysteries waiting inside the donut hole and at the center of the onion.