As is compulsory with any whodunit, details about the upcoming case for Daniel Craig's Benoit Blanc are shrouded in mystery, but new info has recently been revealed to Empire, teasing what could be his most backwards and frankly bonkers investigation yet. After Knives Out and Glass Onion, director Rian Johnson's upcoming threequel, Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery, will see Blanc in a small New England town that has a priest and his congregation pointing fingers after a very peculiar passing.
“Blanc is seeing it as, ‘It’s just a murder, I can solve this.’ The way the murder presents itself is the opposite of that,” Johnson explains. “It’s framed as an impossible thing that could never have happened, almost miraculous in nature. And Blanc, as the rationalist, is coming in to do what he does, and prove that wrong.”
Now, what could the impossible thing be? Well, if there's anything that's going to rattle a mastermind of murder solving, it's if the victim returns from the grave, forcing our hero to track a killer who hasn't quite succeeded in their goal. That's just a theory, of course, but one that anyone else wouldn't have a hope in hell of figuring out. Thankfully, Blanc has a man of God on his side this time around.
Just as the previous two adventures with Mr. Blanc saw him paired up with an ally connected to their respective cases (firstly Ana de Armas in Knives Out and then Janelle Monáe in Glass Onion), his new partner-in-crime-solving is the rattled priest, Father Jud, played by Josh O’Connor. As for the suspects? All eyes are on Glenn Close, Josh Brolin, Mila Kunis, Jeremy Renner, Kerry Washington, Andrew Scott, Cailee Spaeny, Daryl McCormack, and Thomas Haden Church.
“He ends up partnering with Blanc on solving this mystery; it’s very much [Jud’s] journey,” Johnson explains. For Benoit, though, there's more to this new chapter than trying to find a murderer, as the superbly dressed sleuth has a bit of soul-searching on the cards as well. “He has the biggest personal journey in this one. Benoit has to engage with [the mystery] in a different way. He’s in a very different place than in the previous two films." It sounds very much like another sterling collaborative effort between the franchise's leading man and Johnson. "Daniel and I had a lot of fun thinking about where Blanc is at in his life. And I think he’s going through some shit!”
We'll see just what kind of (ahem) stuff Blanc goes through when Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery arrives on Netflix on December 12. While you wait, follow the clues and check out our list of the best mysteries to watch here.
