(Credits: Netflix)

If you thought Glass Onion pushed the limits of Rian Johnson’s whodunit playground, wait until you hear the title of the next instalment. Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery is not just bold, it also promises to be unsettling. Netflix recently dropped the announcement during its Tudum event, and fans across the internet instantly started speculating, theorising, and obsessing.

This third entry in the Knives Out universe hints at a significant tonal shift. Daniel Craig returns as detective Benoit Blanc, this time facing what Johnson calls his most dangerous case yet. Gone are gorgeous Greek islands, sweeping mansions and gardens and absurd tech billionaires. This time, the atmosphere is colder, quieter, and far more ominous.

The teaser Netflix shared gives you a right taste of the chilling adventures to follow. We see shadowy frames, muted colours, and a heavy focus on religious imagery. Blanc’s narration is slower, more serious. He does not play a game of wits with his words; he sounds like someone who has seen too much. The tone feels closer to gothic noir than the genre satire of previous instalments.

And then there is the cast. The director has once again assembled a powerhouse ensemble of stars, with some confirmed names including Glenn Close, Andrew Scott, Kerry Washington, Josh O’Connor, Jeremy Renner, Josh Brolin, Mila Kunis, Cailee Spaeny, Daryl McCormack, and Thomas Haden Church. It is the kind of cast that gets people suspiciously hooked before the murder even happens.

Reddit speculation is already afire with many users casting the unfortunate light of potential victim on Cailee Spaeny, seeing as she is oddly absent from early promotional visuals. Others suggest Andrew Scott might play a villain, based entirely on his track record of making morally grey characters look magnetic. Theories and speculations aside, the one thing fans agree on is that the title itself, Wake Up Dead Man, changes everything.

The title draws from a 1997 U2 song, but here, it feels metaphorical. Is it a nod to resurrection? Regret? Something supernatural? It definitely indicates a case that may not be rooted in simple murder. Johnson has a reputation for twisting genres, and this title gives him the space to explore themes of belief, guilt, and mortality, and who knows what more.

Netflix has confirmed a release date of December 12th, 2025, while filming wrapped up in London in late 2024. Behind the scenes, cast members have hinted at a tense, character-driven script with a few shocking set pieces. There are whispers that this time, the mystery may be more personal for Blanc himself. If true, that would be a first for the franchise.

There is a visual atmospheric shift with a lack of sunlight, glamour, and opulence that have painted the first two instalments, replaced with a stark colour palette and a stripped-back and introspective energy. All of this makes it feel like the plot will follow a slowly creeping story and not the usual murder-with-a-wink format we are used to. It is still a mystery, but one that seems more intimate and emotionally dangerous.

Nevertheless, through it all, Benoit Blanc remains the constant. Craig’s calm, composed presence has always been the anchor of this universe. But Wake Up Dead Man suggests that even Blanc will be pushed to his limits. Perhaps the detective is not just solving a case but confronting something within himself.

This story might take a turn from being about another murder to a reckoning for the characters, for Blanc, and maybe even for the tone of the franchise. All we can do is wait and hope December gallops our way.