Benoit Blanc is back for another mystery, and that means Rian Johnson has assembled an Avengers-like cast of A-listers to build the ensemble of his latest whodunnit. I reference Marvel for a reason, too, because Jeremy Renner, Hawkeye himself and a member of the Wake Up Dead Man cast, recently compared working on Knives Out 3 to the MCU for reasons that make total sense.
The 2025 movie schedule is about to be graced with Rian Johnson’s latest mystery, which means the giant and star-studded cast is starting to do press for it. This includes Jeremy Renner, who is no stranger to being part of a big ensemble. So, while chatting about signing on to this Knives Out mystery with Variety, he explained how that process was similar to working for Marvel:
There's very little information; it's kind of like a Marvel movie in a lot of ways. I don't know if I even got a script. It's one of those things.
Marvel famously keeps their scripts under lock and key, and in some cases, the actors don’t even know the full extent of the scenes they’re shooting. While it’s unclear if that was fully the case on Wake Up Dead Man, it sounds like Renner did say yes to making the movie without reading the full script.
However, considering the reputation of Knives Out and Glass Onion, it’s not surprising that actors would say yes to the next film in this series without knowing the complete story. Plus, the last thing you’d want is who did it getting out into the world. So the secrecy is warranted. On top of that, Rian Johnson and Daniel Craig have set quite the precedent with these modern whodunnits, and Renner touched on that, saying:
There's already a pedigree with what they've done in the past, so I guess you kind of know what you're stepping into, and then you're surrounded by kickass actors. So, it makes work more enjoyable and a lot easier.
That “pedigree” and cast of “kickass actors” is also something the MCU is known for, too. Just take a look at the Avengers: Doomsday cast, and you’ll see what I mean. Or, for a more fitting example, think about Renner’s involvement in the original Avengers film or Endgame. Those casts were insanely stacked with Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Scarlett Johansson, Chris Hemsworth, Mark Ruffalo and more, and the reputation surrounding the movies was incredible. Even if the actors didn’t know exactly what they were signing up for, they likely knew they were going to be in something good.
I think the same can be assumed for Wake Up Dead Man. Reviews for both Knives Out and Glass Onion were solid, and the casts for them were next level, with A-listers like Chris Evans, Jamie Lee Curtis, Edward Norton, Kate Hudson and many, many more involved.
This third mystery from Johnson also features a “kickass” cast, to nobody's surprise. Alongside Renner, his fellow MCU alum, Josh Brolin, will be in Knives Out 3. They’ll also be featured in the film alongside Josh O’Connor, Glenn Close, Mila Kunis, Kerry Washington, Andrew Scott, Cailee Spaeny, Daryl McCormack and Thomas Haden Church. That’s an Avengers-level ensemble if you ask me.
So, yeah, it totally tracks to me that the Hawkeye star would compare his upcoming movie to working for Marvel. It’s a top-secret, highly anticipated and star-studded endeavor.
Now, I’m even more excited to see Wake Up Dead Man, too, because the hype is clearly so real for it if we’re out here comparing it to the MCU. So, you best believe I’ll be in theaters on November 26 to see the film on the big screen, and then I’ll likely be watching it again with a Netflix subscription come December 12.
