Movie fans are pretty curious to see how Christopher Nolan’s latest blockbuster, Tenet, ends up coming together. Even with two trailers and an IMAX-exclusive preview publicly released, the vast majority of details surrounding the movie still remain a mystery. Because of that, fans have begun to drum up some pretty interesting theories — including that Tenet could secretly be a stealth sequel to one of Nolan’s other original films, Inception. Esquire recently asked John David Washington, who stars in Tenet as “The Protagonist”, about this theory — and he had a pretty specific response. As he put it, the films are drastically different from each other, but share a commonality similarly to in-laws.
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“I’d say [Tenet] is an in-law to Inception,” Washington explained. “They’re related by marriage. They get together for Thanksgivings, family barbecues, like that kind of thing. Other than that, one lives in Europe, the other one lives in Compton.”
This comparison between Inception and Tenet is certainly interesting, especially given the manipulations with time and reality that both films seem to be exhibiting. While we’ll have to ultimately wait and see just how much Tenet differs from Nolan’s 2010 film, the notion that they’re at least somewhat similar will surely surprise fans.
“Every day I had questions for [Nolan]. But he was very gracious, and he answered them very calmly and patiently,” Washington said in a recent interview. “It was important that the actors could track the story correctly so we could tell it the best way we could, and he was very patient with us. I say that very politely [laughs].”
“Really, it’s interesting, because there are just little nuggets of information and just breadcrumbs of information about the movie that I’m surprised [Nolan] was willing to reveal [in the second trailer],” Washington added. “And I love that he did.”
You can check out the official description for Tenet below!
“Armed with only one word—Tenet—and fighting for the survival of the entire world, the Protagonist journeys through a twilight world of international espionage on a mission that will unfold in something beyond real-time.”
Tenet will also star Robert Pattinson (The Lighthouse, The Batman), and Elizabeth Debicki (The Man From U.N.C.L.E., Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2). The cast will also include Dimple Kapadia (Dil Chatwa Hai, Dabangg), Aaron Taylor-Johnson (Avengers: Age of Ultron, Kick-Ass), Clémence Poésy (In Bruges, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows), Michael Caine (The Dark Knight, The Prestige), Himesh Patel (Yesterday, EastEnders) and Kenneth Branagh (Dunkirk, Murder on the Orient Express).
What do you think of Washington’s comparison between Tenet and Inception? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below!
Tenet is currently scheduled to be released on July 17th.
