'Glass' Director Explains Reasoning Behind Ending

M. Night Shyamalan's Glass hit theaters this weekend, finally bringing to an end the trilogy started nearly twenty years ago with the cult-classic Unbreakable. Yet, while Glass provides a complete conclusion to the trilogy, it also leaves a lot of questions and a lot of doors open and now Shyamalan is explaining why.

Warning: Spoilers for the ending of Glass beyond this point.

Glass ends with something of a twist. Elijah Price/Mr. Glass (Samuel L. Jackson) is killed by Kevin Wendell Crumb (James McAvoy) when Crumb learns that Price is responsible for the death of his father -- Crumb's father was killed in the train crash from Unbreakable, the one Price set up in order to find David Dunn (Bruce Willis). However, both Crumb and Dunn themselves are killed by a secret organization determined to keep the existence of super-powered people a secret. However, despite the death, Price ends up with the last laugh as video footage of Crumb and Dunn with their super-human powers is released to the public.

It's a dramatic end and Shyamalan tells Entertainment Weekly it's the kind of ending he had in mind all the way back with 2000's Unbreakable.

"I did," he said. "I always thought it was a little bit like an opera, even when I was starting on Unbreakable. I thought this was a very operatic end to it al [with] people screaming and all of these kinds of implications. It was about implications more than anything else. I'm a big fan of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest as you can probably tell. The format of that movie just blew me away when I saw it. The idea that the journey of the main character gets fulfilled by another character is a very powerful idea."

And in Glass that is exactly what happens, with the video release fulfilling Price's plans to expose the world to the existence of superheroes and those with super powers. At the end of the film Price's mother says that it is "the beginning of a universe" as now the world is aware and others with super powers know they are not alone. However, while the film acknowledges the story sets up a new universe -- a Shyamalan Cinematic Universe if you will -- the filmmaker isn't interested in revisiting it. He has other stories to tell.

"I have a lot of original stories I want to tell," he explained. "I'm an original filmmaker and I want to keep on telling new stories and new characters. It's fun for me to figure out a new language, and then learn it, and try to get an audience in two hours to learn, and accept it, and really find their way."

As for those new stories, Shyamalan already has a few different paths he's considering.

"Well, I've got two ideas and I guess after Glass opens, I'll start to write them," Shyamalan said. "I'm trying to decide what to do next. I'm leaning towards one over the other for the next one."

What did you think about how Glass ended? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.

Glass is in theaters now.