Fan Fest News

News for Fans, By Fans!

M. Night Shyamalan explains that twisted ‘Glass’ Trilogy Ending

M. Night Shyamalan’s  much anticipated Glass hit theaters this weekend, a film that I personally have been looking forward to all year. This blockbuster finally brought an end to the trilogy that started about twenty years ago, with his thriller Unbreakable. Last year, the trilogy continued with Split, which contained a remarkable performance by James McAvoy.

(Spoilers for the ending of Glass are beyond this point.)

 

For those of you who have seen Glass, or are just curious to see how it ends – spoilers regardless, let’s talk about that twisted ending. Glass ends with Elijah (Samuel L. Jackson) getting killed by The Beast (James McAvoy) after he discovers that Elijah was responsible for the train crash that killed Kevin’s father in the film Unbreakable. The exact same train that David (Bruce Willis) was on. The purpose for the train crash, was so that Elijah could find men like David, men who possessed superpowers. Unfortunately for Kevin, the loss of his father resulted in Kevin getting abused by his mother – which led to the emergence of Kevin’s 23 additional personalities; which included The Beast.

Once Elijah passed, both The Beast and David were killed by Dr. Ellie Staple (Sarah Paulson) and her secret organization to keep the existence of ‘super-heroes’ a secret. Unfortunately for Dr. Staple, Elijah organized a parlor trick – streaming live footage of David and The Beast displaying their powers to an online website, therefore letting out the secret that superheroes really do exist.

This incredibly heartbreaking and dramatic end was what actually what Director M. Night Shyamalan had in mind back when he did Unbreakable. In a recent interview with Entertainment Weekly , he talked about how he envisioned it like an ‘opera’:

 

“I always thought it was a little bit like an opera, even when I was starting on Unbreakable. I thought this was a very operatic end to it al [with] people screaming and all of these kinds of implications. It was about implications more than anything else. I’m a big fan of One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest as you can probably tell. The format of that movie just blew me away when I saw it. The idea that the journey of the main character gets fulfilled by another character is a very powerful idea.”

 

Although the film ends on somewhat of a ‘cliffhanger’ set-up, opening the door to new possibilities in the Shyamalan ‘super-verse’, don’t expect to see any more superhero themed films coming from the award-winning director anytime soon. He’s got dozens of other stories in the works.

 

Glass can now be seen in theaters.