【2014 Archives】

While we014 Archivesnot know how things pan out for Captain America in Avengers: Endgame, it seems pretty clear that Chris Evans is ready to move on.

And what better way to do that than with a role that emphasizes how un-Cap he can be?

The first trailer from Rian Johnson's Knives Outdebuted at Lionsgate's CinemaCon panel Thursday, and in it, Evans demonstrates exactly the kind of behavior that would have Steve Rogers glaring with disapproval.

Described by Johnson as an Agatha Christie-inspired whodunit with a starry cast, a Hitchcockian flair, and a modern American setting, Knives Outcenters on a family gathering that goes sour when one member turns up dead.

The trailer opens on a stately manor, as "Live and Let Die" plays. A family sits gathered around as a pair of detectives, who introduce themselves as Elliott (LaKeith Stanfield) and Wagner (Daniel Craig) explain that they're there to investigate the death of the family's patriarch (Christopher Plummer) on the occasion of his 85th birthday.

"How was it?" asks Elliott.

"The party? Pre my dad's death?" deadpans Toni Collette's character. "Oh, it was great."

The family are asked to stick around until the investigation has concluded, and it becomes apparent that Wagner (whom Craig gives a pronounced Southern accent) believes someone at the party may have committed murder, much to the outrage and irritation of the family.

Evans plays the son of Jamie Lee Curtis and Don Johnson's characters, and comes across in the footage like a pampered douchebag -- think Roman from Succession.

The first thing we hear him say is "Up your ass." The second, third, fourth, fifth, and sixth things Evans says are variations on "Eat shit." Cap would never.

From there, we cut to an intriguing but mysterious montage of needles, knives, and spiders, as our characters demand answers from one another.

Ana de Armas plays what Curtis calls "the moral compass of this cast of lunatics." Michael Shannon, Katherine Langford, and Jaeden Martell round out the cast. It's probably going to be a while before we get more precise details on how they all fit together, though.

The trailer is stylish and energetic -- the recent trailer of Knives Outmostly reminds me of Bad Times at the El Royale, and not just because a Marvel Chris is involved -- and promises things will get much stranger before they start to make sense again.

"This is a twisted web and we are not finished untangling it, not yet," warns Wagner.

Too bad we'll have to wait a while to see how it unravels. Knives Outopens Thanksgiving weekend, just in time to spice up your own family gatherings.

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