When at the end of ‘Split’ with James McAvoy as kidnapper with a 23-fold split personality Bruce Willis suddenly sits at the bar in his role as the indestructible David Dunn, the twist also caught us off guard. What surprised us even more than the surprising twist was the possibility of a crossover between “Unbreakable” and “Split.” And three years later the time had finally come: M. Night Shyamalan’s superhero trilogy conclusion ‘Glass’ was released in cinemas with the absolute dream cast of Bruce Willis / Samuel L. Jackson / James McAvoy – and despite the mysterious trailers in which the three protagonists suddenly seem to be stuck in a mental institution… quite okay.
Of course not what we – like many fans – had hoped for. However, it took a few years before ‘Unbreakable’, after the initial disappointment that it was not just ‘The Sixth Sense’, gained its deserved cult status as one of the best and most special superhero films it deserves. not at all. So maybe it’s time to give “Glass” and its Shyamalan mega-twist, which is of course not missing this time, another chance. This is possible tonight, for example, when ProSieben broadcasts the film from 10:20 PM.
Alternatively, the film is also available at no additional cost with a Disney+ subscription:
Declaration of war on the Marvel League
It’s probably not too far-fetched to describe ‘Unbreakable’ (which only reveals itself as a superhero story in the home stretch), ‘Split’ and also ‘Glass’ as anti-Marvel films – and that’s exactly what M is tapping into. Night Shyamalan himself: In ‘Glass’, which like its predecessors takes place in Philadelphia, the newly constructed largest building in the city is about to open – and not only does the Osaka Tower look a lot like the MCU’s Avengers headquarters, in a fictional magazine in the film, the building is also ambiguously described as “A TRUE MARVEL”.
At first, of course, this is just an Easter egg. But if you know the film and know what role the tower (doesn’t) play in the finale, you also know that Shyamalan uses the tower very consciously as a statement, to once again underline in bold terms that he is not only producing dozens of blockbusters, but has found his own approach to the superhero comic genre.
In this particular case, however, the declaration of war came a little too slowly, as “Glass” doesn’t live up to the quality Shyamalan promises us with such a confident swipe at the supposedly overwhelming MCU competition…