Sure, Rian Johnson is open to a Knives Out prequel — when he's 'dead and gone'

Benoit Blanc — international man of mystery?

Daniel Craig has perfected playing enigmatic men with a great sense of style onscreen, so that his Southern sleuth of the Knives Out series may generate a number of questions about where he's from, what makes him tick, and when he first got into ascots.

But those are questions Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery writer-director Rian Johnson isn't really interested in answering. Johnson would only approve of a prequel detailing young Benoit's origins when he's "dead and gone."

John Wilson/Netflix

"I don't know the notion of building out a backstory, learning where he came from, all of that stuff, to me, I don't know, I have a natural inclination to kind of push that stuff back and to say a little goes a long way in terms of that," Johnson told Uproxx.

"And ultimately this has to be the story of the mystery," he continued. "The mystery's the thing. And the detective is interesting [in] the way he solves his function within solving the mystery. And if we get glimpses beyond that, that's great. But I feel like a little of that goes a very long way for me.

When asked if that meant we wouldn't be getting a Young Benoit Chronicles, Johnson responded, "Maybe, someday after I'm dead and gone, it'll be streaming on a mind chip."

Though he's against the prequel route, Johnson told EW he is certainly into expanding the Knives Out universe in other ways, such as a board game or stage play.

"Come on, approach me, please. I'm shouting it from the rooftops; let's make some games," Johnson said of a Knives Out board game. "My wife got me a board game of Columbo, which is actually quite good," he added. "A friend of ours collects board games, and there's a Murder She Wrote game, and I remember playing a 21 Baker Street game. Anyway, yes, the answer is yes, yes, a thousand times, yes, please."

And while Johnson said he loves theater and that "the notion of crafting a mystery for the stage seems incredibly intriguing," Craig might prove a bit harder to persuade.

"No, I don't think [I'd do it]," Craig said of bringing Benoit Blanc's ascots to the stage. "Who knows? I don't know. I wouldn't put anything past Rian. He's more than capable of writing a stage play. So, I'd take the meeting."

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Related content:

• The cast of Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery spills secrets in EW's Around the Table

• Rian Johnson wants to expand the Knives Out world to include a board game and a stage play

• Through the looking glass: Inside Knives Out sequel Glass Onion