San Diego Comic-Con brought about a lot of news in the world of superheroes, but it also have shed some definitive light on one of the bigger questions hovering around the world of throwback action movies directed by indie darlings making their return from the Monsterverse.
OK, that’s a little specific, but for fans of beloved horror-actioner The Guest, the latest teaser for director Adam Wingard and writer Simon Barrett’s Onslaught and its SDCC panel were major events this weekend.
Here’s everything you need to know about Onslaught and its connection to The Guest.
The Trailer
The Backstory
The combination of the creative credits up top and a plot about military bloodlust going (who coulda guessed it) awry were enough for genre-loving internet sleuths to suspect that there was more to the story with Onslaught. Were Wingard and Barrett returning to the world of The Guest? There have long been discussions of a potential sequel — and event a speculative score composed for one. The promotional material for Onslaught wasn’t even hiding the fact that the star of the 2014 cult hit, Dan Stevens, would be appearing in it. There were just too many signs, right?
Well, the one-two punch of the new trailer and the movie’s San Diego Comic-Con panel seemingly put the matter to rest. Stevens, who was conspicuously missing from the first teaser, appears in the trailer, looking nothing like his character from The Guest, deranged super-soldier David. Does that preclude the potential of a double role? No, but the odds are looking slimmer.
Then there’s the word from Comic-Con, where Stevens had this to say: “It is a spiritual sequel. That said, it lives in the same universe.” An interesting splitting of hairs, for sure, but more evidence for the “not a The Guest sequel” than yes.
The Cast
Onslaught is toplined by Adria Arjona, who has been on a steady rise with Hit Man, Andor, and Michael B. Jordan’s upcoming Thomas Crowne Affair remake. She leads a cast that also includes Stevens, Outer Banks breakout Drew Starkey, Rebecca Hall, Michael Biehn, Eric Wareheim, and Reginald VelJohnson.
The Release Date
Onslaught opens in theaters on Sept. 4.
