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Ruben Fleischer breaks down the choice to kill off one of the returning characters in Now You See Me: Now You Don’t.
Posted in: Lionsgate, Movies | Tagged: lionsgate, now you see me, Now You See Me: Now You Don't
Now You See Me Now You Don't Director Confirms One Character's Fate
Ruben Fleischer breaks down the choice to kill off one of the returning characters in Now You See Me: Now You Don’t.
Article Summary
- Now You See Me: Now You Don’t delivers a shocking twist by killing off Morgan Freeman’s Thaddeus Bradley.
- Director Ruben Fleischer confirms Bradley’s death isn’t an illusion and explains why it needed to feel final.
- Rosamund Pike’s villain Veronika gets heightened stakes, making her the franchise’s darkest antagonist yet.
- Returning stars and new faces join the magic heist, raising the emotional and dramatic impact of the sequel.
The latest entry in the Now You See Me magician heist series does not just juggle bigger locations, set pieces, and a new lineup of illusionists. It also makes one of the boldest choices in the franchise so far (spoilers ahead) by giving Morgan Freeman's character, Thaddeus Bradley, a pretty definitive fate. Because, in Now You See Me: Now You Don't, after spending three movies as a wild card who alternated between adversary and ally, Bradley's unexpected death is meant to feel final, not like another mislead designed for shock value.
Now, while speaking with Entertainment Weekly, director Ruben Fleischer explained why the team chose not to walk that back with a last-minute twist or tag moving forward.
Now You See Me: Now You Don't Director Breaks Down the Shocking Demise of a Returning Character
The filmmaker divulges, "We thought about [his death being an illusion], but it felt like maybe it would undermine the cause of the Horsemen. Because we toyed with the idea, maybe at the end he's playing with his grandchildren doing a magic trick or something like that. But we chose not to, just to allow for Veronika truly to be as bad as she's perceived. Morgan felt like it was the right thing to do, so I wouldn't have done it if he felt otherwise."
As Fleischer noted, that decision gives Rosamund Pike's Veronika (the ruthless antagonist in the film) a darker edge and raises the stakes for the rest of the ensemble. Though it also offers a heavier moment for the ensemble and closes the book on one of the series's longest-running figures, whose history with the Eye and the Horsemen has been central to the ongoing story since the very beginning. Alongside Freeman, the film brings back stars including Jesse Eisenberg, Woody Harrelson, Dave Franco, Isla Fisher, and Lizzy Caplan, while introducing a few newcomers, like Justice Smith, Dominic Sessa, and Ariana Greenblatt, who each portray the next wave of tricksters.
Now You See Me: Now You Don't is in theaters everywhere, offering fans a sequel that not only reunites familiar faces but also makes it clear that not every character can simply vanish and reappear when it's convenient. All things considered, what was your reaction to Freeman's fate in the film?
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