What’s Next for Benoit Blanc? Director Rian Johnson Teases the Future of 'Knives Out'

Daniel Craig’s detective Benoit Blanc is on his way back, but this time the Knives Out universe is heading into much darker territory. Writer-director Rian Johnson has revealed that Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery will embrace a moodier, more gothic atmosphere — and that’s precisely how he wants it.

Speaking to Rolling Stone, Johnson teased just how different this third film will be from the sun-soaked romp of Glass Onion.

"It’s incredibly different from Glass Onion," he said. "We put out a teaser trailer a month ago. It’s much more a Gothic, much more grounded tone. It’s more similar to the first one in that way. It kind of gets back to the real origins of the genre, which, predating [Agatha] Christie, go back to [Edgar Allan] Poe."

As for why he’s taking such a drastic tonal turn, Johnson made it clear it’s all about keeping himself creatively challenged. He explained that if he ever felt he was simply repeating what he’d done before or churning out more of the same, he wouldn’t be able to fool the audience.'

After spending three years working in a particular style, he compared it to eating the same lunch every single day — no wonder he’s far more excited by the chance to dive into something that feels genuinely new.

And what about the future of Knives Out? Johnson isn’t ruling anything out — he’s just waiting for the next spark of inspiration.

"I feel great! Because I have genuinely taken a swing each time that I didn’t think would work," he said. "Ultimately, that’s the thing you’re trying to avoid. The second you feel like you know how to do this, that leads nowhere good. So I feel fantastic. And with the movies, we can keep doing that."