Rian Johnson has never been shy about his intention to prove the Knives Out franchise as one of the most serializable IPs of the modern era. Given that the only similarity between Glass Onion and the opening chapter is the presence of Daniel Craig’s Benoit Blanc, it’s safe to say that the charming detective can be successfully dropped into just about any situation one can dream up.
The internet, of course, has offered more than its fair share of ideas for Johnson, one of the most notable being a Knives Out crossover with HBO Max’s The White Lotus, but even that pales in comparison to the internet’s desire to see Blanc team up with Kermit and the gang for a Muppets Knives Out movie. Johnson himself has even admitted to Netflix that he’s given the idea some “serious thought.”
Such territory is actually a touch more familiar than we all remember, though, or perhaps choose to remember. If you’ll recall, Melissa McCarthy has already beaten Craig to that particular punch as of 2018, when she starred in The Happytime Murders, an adult murder mystery film featuring Muppet-esque puppets as a fair chunk of the characters.
The Happytime Murders follows the plight of Detective Connie Edwards (McCarthy), who teams up with disgraced puppet ex-cop Phil Phillips to solve a string of mysterious murders, with all of the victims being former cast members of The Happytime Gang, a popular sitcom.
It’s a fun premise, especially considering that the internet is obsessed with it at the moment. Unfortunately, director Brian Henson didn’t do his father, Jim, proud with this one. With a 23 percent approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes, maybe there’s a reason we all forgot about the OG puppet murder mystery. Whether Blanc’s and Kermit’s combined charisma can right the wrongs of The Happytime Murders looks set to be a mystery in its own right for the time being.
Glass Onion is currently streaming on Netflix.