Hot on the heels of volunteering to return to the Mission: Impossible franchise, Jeremy Renner has picked up a new franchise installment in which to star. Yes, he’s the latest high-profile actor to get drafted into Rian Johnson’s next Benoit Blanc adventure. Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery will mark Renner’s first return to a feature film following his near-fatal snow plot accident on New Year’s Day 2023.
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Last week, Johnson posted on Twitter/X that the third film was “about to go into production,” and he absolutely meant it. In short order, the film’s title was released and the casting announcements started rolling in. As has been the case for Johnson’s previous whodunnits, Knives Out and Glass Onion, the cast is quite star-studded with some of the buzziest actors of the day signed on for the ensemble. Renner joins previously announced castmates Josh O’Connor (Challengers), Cailee Spaeny (Priscilla), Andrew Scott (Fleabag), and Kerry Washington (Scandal). Also announced as part of the cast on Thursday is esteemed Oscar nominee Glenn Close. (Plus, of course, Daniel Craig as Benoit Blanc.)
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Between Knives Out and Poker Face, Johnson seems to be on a mission to work with the best, brightest, most interesting, and ultimately most recognizable actors Hollywood has to offer. This suits Jeremy Renner’s apparent ambition to join Hollywood’s biggest franchises. As we noted earlier today, he’s checked off Mission: Impossible, the Bourne franchise, the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and the Taylor Sheridan-verse. Joining Knives Out would be a no brainer for him (or any other actor), and it’ll likely be less taxing on his still-recovering body than those other action tentpoles.
That being said, Renner recently told JoBlo that returning as Hawkeye would be good motivation for him to keep pushing his recovery and get back in fighting shape, so don’t count him out for a future Marvel return. And for Knives Out fans keeping score, there’s a potential pattern at play. Warning for previous film spoilers and speculation... the past two villains in Benoit Blanc’s cases were Marvel stars: Ransom Drysdale was played by Chris Evans, a.k.a. Captain America, and Miles Bron was played by Edward Norton, Marvel’s erstwhile Hulk. Just something for amateur gumshoes to keep an eye on!