Murder mysteries have seen a steady rise in popularity recently, with the likes of The Pale Blue Eye, See How They Run, and Amsterdam offering up quite a few cinematic attempts at the elusive whodunit formula, with the results ranging from mildly captivating to downright shameful. And while we probably have Rian Johnson to thank for this notably more frequent and just as messy upturn in the genre’s frequency, if we continue getting the likes of Knives Out, Glass Onion, and Poker Face in return, we’ll happily take the odd shamble.
Indeed, Johnson and Daniel Craig continue to find themselves in the hearts of moviegoers with every passing Benoit Blanc romp, and the writer-director has now cashed on his momentum with Poker Face, a 10-episode television series starring Natasha Lyonne as human lie detector Charlie Cale in a mystery-of-the-week ride inspired by Columbo‘s howcatchem format.
Benoit Blanc has long since been pegged as one of the most serializable characters of today, which has led to fans calling for crossovers ranging from the Muppets to The White Lotus. As Poker Face picks up more steam over the next few days, Johnson’s masterminding of the two properties will no doubt result in yet another crossover demand.
But, in this case, Johnson may have beaten us all to the punch. In an interview with Screen Rant, Johnson divulged a cheeky Easter egg in Glass Onion that just might tie Poker Face into the Knives Out world in a way that only Johnson would attempt.
“Well, you want to hear a twisted web? Try and untangle this. She is Natasha in that she’s in her trailer on the set of Poker Face. If you look at her background, it’s her trailer. She’s in between takes when we’re shooting Poker Face. I just said, ‘Get on the Zoom real quick and do it.’ So, I have no idea how you untangle that. I guess in the Glass Onion universe, Poker Face is a show that’s being shot. I’ll have an episode of Poker Face on the background in the next Benoit Blanc mystery, maybe.”
Does this mean the next Knives Out film will see an actual murder take place on the set of Poker Face? Probably not. Could that very well be the setting of a future Knives Out film? We never say never, but now we’ll be saying it even less from here on out.
Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery is available to stream on Netflix, while Poker Face is available to stream on Peacock, with additional episodes releasing every Thursday until the season’s conclusion on March 9.