The Last Jedi Director Added A Sneaky Star Wars Reference In Knives Out 3

Put down your magnifying glass if you haven't watched "Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Story" yet — spoilers ahead!

Have you watched "Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery" yet now that it's streaming on Netflix? If so, you likely caught the "Star Wars" reference that writer and director Rian Johnson threw into the script.

Johnson, who spoke to Polygon before the movie's release, references a part in the movie where right-wing influencer and aspiring politician Cy Draven ("Bad Sisters" star Daryl McCormack) makes a proposition to the man who turns out to be his illegitimate father, Monsignor Jefferson Wicks (Josh Brolin), who heads up the insular church known as Our Lady of Perpetual Fortitude. Cy and Jefferson both know that there's a Wicks family treasure that's worth a small fortune — in the form of an absolutely massive diamond — and Cy wants his daddy dearest to use it to finance Cy's political career. Cy even makes a joke about how they're like the Rebellion in "Star Wars," even though, honestly, the Rebels would probably hate these two jerks.

"I couldn't resist," Johnson told Polygon. "The ultimate joke of that moment, that everyone thinks they're the Rebels, I think is very apropos today."

Regarding pop culture references in the "Knives Out" movies — which are all firmly set in present day — Johnson said he's cautious about leaning on them, but still likes to sprinkle them into the scripts. "You just have to be instinctual about it," he mused. "On the one hand, I like that these movies are unapologetically set in the present moment. That's a feature and not a bug. On the other hand, you don't want to get annoying about it, so it's a little bit of just trusting your ear."

If you're a fan of both "Star Wars" and Rian Johnson's body of work, you know that he helmed the oft-maligned second movie in the sequel trilogy, "The Last Jedi" — and in that same interview with Polygon, he spoke about not only his religious upbringing, but the fact that "Star Wars" feels like its own form of worship. Obviously, fictional religions are a big part of the "Star Wars" universe, and as Polygon points out, "The Last Jedi" centers around Luke Skywalker's (Mark Hamill) overall disillusionment with the Jedi order (a religion in its own right, honestly). The fact that these two films share this is on purpose. "Absolutely, on a couple of different levels," Johnson said of building a bridge between two of his blockbusters.

As Johnson put it, being raised on "Star Wars" is basically religious. "Anyone who grew up with Star Wars deeply rooted in their childhood — it's almost a cliché to say it feels like a religion," Johnson said. He continued:

"That can be used to cut both ways. But for me, there is something very fundamental about it. It's a fundamental myth that we grew up with, from childhood. I grew up very Christian, so when I was a kid, I was parsing Star Wars through my faith and through my Christianity. It's all tied up in that. Very naturally, if I'm telling that story, it's going to be filtered through the values I grew up with."

The interesting thing about Johnson's approach here, though, is how he deals with his own upbringing and beliefs in "Wake Up Dead Man" — and actively challenges them.

When "Wake Up Dead Man" begins its story, we follow the devout, kindly, and occasionally violent Reverend Jud Duplenticy (an astoundingly good Josh O'Connor) as he's sent to Our Lady of Perpetual Fortitude to work under Monsignor Jefferson Wicks (after Jud punched a member of his congregation in the face). Before long, Jud realizes that Jefferson isn't just a mean guy; he's basically a fraud who uses his pulpit to literally bully people, pushing out potential new constituents by saying hateful stuff to target them whenever they try to join the church. The dangerous, pointed worship of Jefferson's vile words by his congregation — including Cy, his sister and mother figure Vera Draven (Kerry Washington), classically trained cellist Simone Vivane (Cailee Spaeny), formerly successful author Lee Ross (Andrew Scott), local doctor Nat Sharp (Jeremy Renner), and devoted acolyte Martha Delacroix (Glenn Close) — is, as Johnson points out, a way for him to question his own religious upbringing.

"That's part and parcel of that process, and that's what happened with this movie as well," Johnson said of challenging his own long-held beliefs in his scripts. "There is overlap between those two scenes — both are very much about, Get out of your theories, get out of your theology, get out of your head and look at the need right in front of your eyes. Get back to human empathy. Who is hurting right in front of you? Who needs your help? Ultimately, that's what Christ did, that's what Christ taught."

"Wake Up Dead Man," with its "Star Wars" references and investigation of religion, is streaming on Netflix now.