KNIVES OUT 3 (2024): Bond to Blanc: Daniel Craig’s Subtle Segue into the Knives Out Franchise

Daniel Craig Spearheads Knives Out 3

Daniel Craig goes for triple-header as Benoit Blanc in Rian Johnson’s Knives Out 3.

Daniel Craig has found a complex character in the laid-back style of Benoit Blanc, very different from the cool machismo of his portrait of iconic MI6 secret agent, James Bond.

Then some conjecture surrounded the scene in Glass Onion where Phillip (Hugh Grant) answered the door to Benoit’s flat didn’t last long. Grant has confirmed publicly that yes, Phillip and Benoit are indeed a married couple.

Remember all the dust kicked up when Craig suggested James Bond might have gay escapades? Some purists had said it was disloyal, even contrary, to Ian Fleming’s vision. Others suggested the buried identities and suppressed same-sex desires fit the dark-cornered, covert nature of espionage, especially during the Cold War era. While some note Fleming’s homophobia and misogyny, others point out the close relationship between Fleming, his wife Ann and playwright Sir Noël Coward (to whom Fleming first offered the screen role of Dr. No).

Both sides of this argument have their merits. A future Bond character could well avail himself of the same opportunities and leverage afforded by gay sexual encountered, depending upon how close a character represents a man of his time, today versus the Cold War era. With respect to secret agents, Benoit’s mannerisms call to mind Tommy Lee Jones’ portrayal of the gay ‘man’s man’ real life character Clay Shaw/Bertrand in JFK.

Among Craig’s many performances on stage and screen, among them are two roles of note as a gay character or sympathizer. One is George Dyer, lover to surrealist painter Francis Bacon, played by Derek Jacobi, in Love is the Devil: Study for a Portrait of Francis Bacon. He also portrayed serial killer Perry Smith in the Truman Capote biopic, Infamous.

One astute Twitter fan recently suggested a subtle shift in Craig’s depiction of Bond’s accent during his performance in No Time to Die. The fan even provided a convincing movie clip as evidence, but this might have been incidental. The Bond film was shot between Knives Out and Glass Onion, and Craig used a dialect coach to recapture Benoit’s Louisiana accent — with questionable success, according to some fans native to that State.

A third installment of the Knives Out franchise is in the works. A fair question is, where will it go specifically with respect to Benoit’s relationship? Will there be a different twist — a romantic one, where lover Phillip has a greater presence, and all the stressors that go with it? We have sometime in 2024 to speculate and debate, at which point Netflix will satisfy our curiosity.

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