Before Starring in ‘Knives Out 3,’ Jeremy Renner Was the Franchise’s Biggest Punchline
Good news for fans of murder mysteries and goofy Southern accents: Gentleman sleuth Benoit Blanc is back for another “Knives Out Mystery.” dubbed Wake Up Dead Man. The movie just premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival, and we can confidently say that it’s the best whodunnit named after a U2 song of the year so far.
As usual, writer and director Rian Johnson has assembled an all-star cast of big name actors/suspects, including Josh Brolin, Kerry Washington, Andrew Scott and Glenn Close. But one cast member may be of particular interest to fans of the Knives Out series, seeing as how the previous installment went out of its way to poke fun at him. We are, of course, talking about The Avengers star and vanity app pioneer Jeremy Renner.
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In Wake Up Dead Man, Renner plays Dr. Nat Sharp, a local physician who develops a drinking problem following the departure of his wife.
Fans may recall that Glass Onion included a joke about Renner releasing a line of “small batch hot sauce.” In exchange for the opportunity to invest in the company run by the Elon Musk-coded Miles Bron, Renner sends the billionaire “a pallet every year.” Each bottle of “Renning Hot” features Renner’s grinning face, with steam shooting out of his ears. We hear about the hot sauce before ever seeing the label, making the reveal even funnier.
It’s hard not to interpret this as anything but a playful knock on Renner’s gratuitous self-obsession. After all, is this hot sauce any less ridiculous than the app that wished fans a “Happy Rennsday”?
Weirdly, the hot sauce ended up playing a crucial role in the mystery. We eventually learn that — spoiler alert for Glass Onion — an apparent death turns out to be a deception perpetrated by Blanc, who doused Helen with Renner-brand sauce in order to prevent further attempts on her life.
So, seemingly, both movie star Jeremy Renner and a depressed doctor who looks exactly like Jeremy Renner exist in the Knives Out universe? Strangely enough, Entertainment Weekly asked the actor about this exact oddity. “I wasn’t part of that discussion, but I know it was talked about it,” Renner admitted. “I don’t know what they said.”
He also expressed his theory that Dr. Sharp simply isn’t aware that he has an identical twin churning out Hollywood movies like Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters. “(Nat Sharp) has no idea who he is,” Renner said of the Renner that exists in the Knives Out-verse. “He’s a sad doctor. He isn’t watching movies, man. He’s a sad man. That’s the archetype I play: dad in crisis.”
Maybe Johnson will keep this trend going, and keep casting Renner as different characters in future Knives Out movies, as if the franchise contains infinite Renners.
