Weapons does not seem like a movie that warrants a sequel, a bit of a throwback to the one-off Get Out, which garnered similar praise. But it may not be the last we see of this universe all the same.
While there were at least some rumblings of a Weapons 2 initially, the idea may have now shifted to Weapons: Origins, or whatever they might call a prequel. The idea here is that it would focus on the show-stealing Aunt Gladys, played by Amy Madigan, who some are already saying may get an Oscar nomination for that part. This would be a film showing her origin story.
That origin is at least somewhat hinted at in the movie, at least by the fact that it would be set a very, very long time ago. The singular clue here is that she refers to the comatose parents as having “consumption,” a very old word for what would eventually become tuberculosis, as the principal notes.
How old is “consumption?” Well, that may provide a clue as to how old the quasi-vampiric Gladys is. It first appeared in writing in the 14th century and then was used medically in the 15th century where then, for four more centuries, was referred to as a “wasting disease,” again, what would be the extremely deadly pulmonary tuberculosis that killed millions before treatment and prevention was established.
So that Gladys is probably at least close to 150 years old, based on when that term stopped being used, though of course she could be even older.
As it turns out, we almost learned a lot her origin in the movie itself. Via THR:
“One of Weapons’ conceits is its chapter structure centering on particular characters, and sources say that Cregger actually had a chapter focused on Gladys and some of her backstory. He ultimately pulled that section from the script for length purposes. Now with the movie’s wild success, that lost chapter would be expanded into a full-length story.”
So, there was at least some plan in motion for her origin already, but this is still just a concept. No deals for the movie, no timeline for when it may came out. And importantly, it’s an open question whether this could be a “young Gladys” prequel where she would not be played by Madigan, though I have to imagine that she would either fully star or at least appear, given that the interest in the character is almost solely through her performance.
It seems unlikely that director Zach Cregger may have time for this any time soon. He’s already working on his next film, Resident Evil, which we’ve just learned stars Weapons MVP Austin Abrams, the former Euphoria star who played the drug addict James. It’s not a direct adaptation of the games, but a new story set within them. Needless to say after Barbarian and Weapons, the Resident Evil fanbase is eager to see how this goes. As for the prequel? I’m not sure how likely it will be in the end as Cregger may simply want to move on, but we’ll look for updates on that front.
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