Glass Onion: Rian Johnson says character comparisons to Elon Musk are a “horrible accident”

When Rian Johnson’s Knives Out sequel, Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery, debuted on Netflix shortly before Christmas, fans of the whodunit quickly rushed to social media to make the same observation about Edward Norton’s character Miles Bron. Norton plays a tech entrepreneur in the film who resembles Twitter CEO Elon Musk. While the similarities are undeniable, Johnson says the comparison is a “horrible accident.” Unfortunately, Johnson’s denial is falling on deaf ears, at least in circles where Musk shines brighter than the sun.

Shortly after Glass Onion dropped on Netflix, conservative political commentator Ben Shapiro launched an unhinged thread about the movie, saying Johnson’s politics are “as lazy as his writing.” Still, Johnson says he plotted the film long before Musk’s horrendous Twitter takeover, and people should only read so far into it. Additionally, Johnson wrote Glass Onion during the height of the pandemic, before Musk dominated the news cycle daily with questionable tactics for managing the bird app.

Speaking with Wired, Johnson said, “It’s so weird. It’s very bizarre,” about audiences comparing Bron to Musk. “I hope there isn’t some secret marketing department at Netflix that’s funding this Twitter takeover.”

Johnson added, “There’s a lot of general stuff about that sort of species of tech billionaire that went directly into [the movie]. But obviously, it has almost a weird relevance in exactly the current moment. A friend of mine said, ‘Man, that feels like it was written this afternoon.’ And that’s just sort of a horrible, horrible accident, you know?”

Musk supporters have been shouting into an echo chamber since Glass Onion debuted on Netflix. Hilariously, many watched the movie in protest, seemingly unaware of helping the film’s popularity in the long run. Still, Shapiro demands satisfaction and continues to criticize Johnson despite the world moving on from the matter. Unfortunately for Shapiro, his rant quickly made him a target of those who got the joke and understood that Norton’s character is “of a type,” and you could swap any Musk-like figure for the same result.

Do you think comparisons between Bron and Musk are a “horrible accident,” or is the whole thing a part of Johnson’s insidious plot to make the Twitter CEO remain a part of the news cycle?