Nope: Jordan Peele Reveals Origin of Scorpion King Hoodie

There were countless things about Jordan Peele’s Nope that inspired fan theories and discussion before the film came out, largely because its plot was so mysterious. Among those topics were the mysterious scarred lady, the supposed aliens on the farm, and also why the heck Daniel Kaluuya’s character was wearing a hoodie from the Dwayne Johnson-vehicle The Scorpion King. In the context of the film it ends up making sense but to an outside observer it might seem a little random. Speaking in a new interview with Empire, Peele was asked about the origin of The Scorpion King hoodie, revealing that it just came about naturally as Nope developed.

“It was not in the original script,” Peele said. “It was something that you just kind of do the work on. I knew the character had worked on something with his father when he was twelve years old and this would be his father’s piece of swag that he got. So it became about what movies could it have been if you’re doing the (math). And then, I mean, Scorpion King…come on. I knew it had to be orange, and so it was all perfect. You put out these connective feelers and things come back to you.”

Spoilers for Nope follow, but in the context of the film the Scorpion King hoodie serves a practical and a story purpose. In the film, Kaluuya’s OJ is part of the family business that trains horses for feature films, having worked with his father on The Scorpion King as a young kid (the irony being that their horses were replaced by camels, but they still got the crew hoodie). It also serves as a bridge between Kaluuya’s OJ and Keke Palmer’s Emerald as they ponder what to do about the UFO. After deciding they can set a trap to capture it on film, OJ wears the jacket to visually distract it so they can hopefully get the perfect shot of it and prove that it’s real.

Nope is now playing in theaters, having just eclipsed a major box office milestone. The film also marks Peele’s third major hit in a row as a writer/director and lucky for all of us he’s already considering what will come next. 

“I don’t know what’s next, there are a few ideas percolating,” Peele told Empire when asked about what he’ll do next. “I need to kind of sink into the world a bit and allow the world to sort of tell me which one is the next one. So that’s what my next couple of months will be spent doing.”