It's a new week, which means there's new Knives Out casting news
Wake Up Dead Man gets its second Marvel alum with the addition of Josh Brolin
Apparently, Rian Johnson wasn’t done. While we had a short (and very necessary) weekend of respite from the endless stream of Wake Up Dead Man casting updates, the Benoit Blanc train—a.k.a. the running list of movies Johnson watched, liked, and had to poach an actor from—is back on the rails.
The latest addition to this veritable acting Olympics is Josh Brolin (via Deadline), who presumably represents Dune: Part Two in the list of standout 2024 films lending an actor to the 2025 whodunnit. He joins previously announced co-stars Josh O’Connor (Challengers), Cailee Spaeny (Priscilla), Andrew Scott (All Of Us Strangers), Kerry Washington, Glenn Close, Jeremy Renner, Mila Kunis, Daryl McCormack (Good Luck To You, Leo Grande), and, of course, Daniel Craig in the leading role.
With this announcement, Johnson is also throwing a wrench in the previously established rules of his mystery series. (Spoiler alert if you’re reading these casting announcements without having seen Knives Out or Glass Onion for some reason.) Before Jeremy Renner was even cast, fans pointed out that Johnson’s previous two killers have both been very obviously dodgy characters played by former MCU actors (Chris Evans in Knives Out and Edward Norton in Glass Onion). When Renner was cast, the prophecy seemed all but fulfilled.
However, with the addition of Brolin—a guy we know can play villainous, at least when covered in oodles of purple CGI—the real killer can be a mystery once more. Maybe both Marvel actors are a red herring and it will be Andrew Scott—stepping back into his Moriarty and Ripley shoes—all along. Maybe Johnson will keep the MCU pattern but it will be esteemed stage and screen actor Glenn Close—best known, of course, for playing Nova Prime in Guardians Of The Galaxy. At least the Knives Out mysteries are still keeping us on our toes!
It seems they’re also keeping our intrepid gumshoe alert. In a short teaser video, Daniel Craig narrates that this upcoming installment is Benoit Blanc’s “most dangerous case yet.” We’ll know the exact nature of that danger when the film hits Netflix sometime next year.