Wake Up Dead Man’s Killer Continues A Strange Knives Out Tradition

Warning: Contains SPOILERS for Wake Up Dead Man!

Daniel Craig’s Benoit Blanc has solved another murder with Wake Up Dead Man, with the confirmation of who killed Msgr. Jefferson Wicks (Josh Brolin) saved for the grand finale. In typical fashion for a Rian Johnson whodunnit, there’s a series of teases and bits of misdirection seeded throughout, so Wake Up Dead Man‘s ending could surprise viewers by revealing Martha (Glenn Close) and Dr. Nat (Jeremy Renner) were responsible.

The Knives Out movies have always had complicated and clever plots, with the identity or motive of the killer often saved for the third act. Johnson has refused to make these movies feel too similar to each other, surprising audiences with each one, with how Blanc figures out the truth. Wake Up Dead Man‘s reveal for Martha and Dr. Nat continued a surprising franchise trend, too.

All The Knives Out Movie Killers Are MCU Actors

The biggest clue to who the killer is in each Knives Out movie isn’t who can’t use an iPhone or who has the shadiest alibi. All you have to do is identify who has been in an MCU movie before. Granted, that is a large number of big stars at this point, but Wake Up Dead Man keeps the trend alive of only using MCU veterans as the franchise’s killers.

This started off with the biggest example, with Johnson casting Chris Evans as the villain of the first film. His character, Ransom, was the one who tried to frame Marta for Harlan’s death. While Harlan technically took his own life, Ransom still goes down as a killer in Knives Out since he is responsible for Fran’s death, too. As a result, the actor best known for playing Captain America became a bad guy.

Afterward, Glass Onion included the big twist that Miles Bron, played by Edward Norton, was the person responsible for killing Andi and later Duke. Norton was a short-lived MCU star, headlining The Incredible Hulk before Mark Ruffalo took over playing the angry green goliath from The Avengers onward.

Now, Knives Out had two people with MCU histories tied together as part of Wicks’ murder plot. Close’s Martha is the true mastermind, and while many may forget, the actress did appear in Guardians of the Galaxy as Nova Prime. Martha uses Dr. Nat to pull off her scheme, making the longtime Hawkeye actor an active participant in Wake Up Dead Man‘s deaths, especially as he also killed Samson.

In Fact, The Knives Out Movies Almost Exclusively Kill MCU Stars

Johnson using MCU actors as villains in the Knives Out movies has worked out, but he’s also used the franchise to supply these films with the majority of its deaths. The original Knives Out is the only one where an MCU actor doesn’t die, as Evans is the only one among the cast with ties to the franchise, and Ransom is detained rather than killed.

Killing MCU stars has become a much bigger part of the Knives Out sequels. Dave Bautista’s Duke is one of two characters who die in the film, giving Marvel’s franchise half the death toll. Wake Up Dead Man took things to a new level, as it kills five of its six cast members with Marvel experience: Close, Renner, Josh Brolin, Thomas Haden Church, and Annie Hamilton. Jeffrey Wright is the only MCU vet to survive the threequel.

Is any of this purposeful by Johnson? Is he directly casting MCU actors only so he can kill them on-screen in some fashion? That’s doubtful. But, with six of 10 major deaths in the franchise coming at the expense of a character played by an MCU actor, it makes for a funny trend all the same.

Whether Wake Up Dead Man or any Knives Out film meant to do this will be up to Johnson to confirm. And if a fourth film does happen, if an actor wants their character to make it out of the film alive and innocent, its best to not be assocaited with the MCU.

Release Date

November 26, 2025

Runtime

140 minutes

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