Knives Out 2 is coming down the pipeline following the unexpectedly huge success of 2019’s whodunnit. Rian Johnson is returning to pen the screenplay and direct the sequel, which will bring back Daniel Craig as Benoit Blanc. But will any other characters from the original be along for the ride? While Noah Segan can’t confirm anything, it seems Trooper Wagner could get in on the action once again.
Noah Segan is a longtime collaborator and friend to Rian Johnson. Segan has appeared in every one of the filmmaker’s movies dating back to 2005’s Brick. That collaboration continued last year with Knives Out, in which, Segan played Trooper Wagner, a local law enforcement officer who aided Benoit Blanc in solving the death of Christopher Plummer’s Harlan Thrombey. Wagner, as it happens, was a big fan of Thrombey’s novels.
I recently had the chance to speak with Segan in honor of his new movie The Pale Door. During our conversation, I asked whether or not Trooper Wagner would be showing up again, even though this will be an entirely new case with new characters. Here’s what he had to say about it.
“I have never been a betting man so I can’t give you exact odds. But I can tell you that, even in these socially distant times, I do manage to stay many feet apart with Rian while we occasionally go on a walk or a hike. It would make it very awkward if he disappeared for months making the movie and never told me to show up. I’m not saying that awkwardness isn’t gonna be there, but I’m saying there’s probably a shot that he can’t get rid of me yet.”
Rian Johnson previously explained that Knives Out 2 will be more akin to an Agatha Christie novel involving Hercule Poirot, meaning it will center on Benoit Blanc investigating a new mystery. But with a new case comes a new cast of characters. So it wouldn’t make much sense to bring the Thrombeys back. However, given that Trooper Wagner is a member of law enforcement, there could be a way to bring that character back into the fold without making it feel shoehorned. At the very least, Noah Segan isn’t ruling it out. On the flipside, when I spoke with Michael Shannon earlier this year, he pretty much ruled out reprising his role as Walt.
Knives Out was a massive hit for Lionsgate, bringing in a surprising $309 million at the global box office against a $40 million budget. As such, the studio was eager to get a sequel going. Originally, the plan was to get Knives Out 2 going sooner rather than later. However, the situation the industry is facing right now has made that trickly. The follow-up does not yet have a release date set. We’ll be sure to keep you posted as further details are made available. In the meantime, The Pale Door arrives on August 21 from RLJE Films.
