M. Night Shyamalan’s Glass: What Does the Title Mean?

M. Night Shyamalan just blew the collective minds of movie fans, when he revealed that his long […]

September 5, 2017, 3:17pm

M. Night Shyamalan just blew the collective minds of movie fans, when he revealed that his long awaited sequel to 2000’s Unbreakable (and eagerly-awaited sequel to this year’s Split) has officially been scripted. More than that, Shyamalan revealed the title and release date of the threequel!

Here’s where things get interesting: Shyamalan revealed that the title of the Split/Unbreakable sequel will Glass, while also confirming that one of the returning cast members for the film will be none other than Samuel L. Jackson’s Elijah Price – aka the Unbreakable villain known as “Mr. Glass.”

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With Jackson coming back, and the story starting off from the place we saw at the end of Split, we (and a lot of fans) are wondering What the Title Glass Means for the narrative and thematic arc of the movie.

Elijah Luthor

The first and most obvious implication of the title Glass is that the film is centered around Samuel L. Jackson’s Elijah Price/Mr. Glass.

Every chapter of this Unbreakable saga has (so far) come with a single-word title that’s thematically tied to the central character’s arc in the film. Unbreakable was about David Dunn realizing his own power; Split was about Kevin Crumb fracturing his old mind to birth a powerful new persona. Therefore, Glass would indicate a story where Elijah is the focus, and all the implied meanings of the word “glass” (fragility, clarity, a breakable barrier) come into play.

For most fans, it would be exciting to see Mr. Glass fully embrace his role as a mastermind archvillain; it would cool to learn that (as we saw in Unbreakable‘s climax) he’s still been a masterful manipulator, even while held in the mental institution he’s been in presumably since 2000). It would be awesome to learn that Mr. Glass is behind the seemingly sad, lonely state of David’s live (implied at the end of Split); and that he was the unseen hand that helped steer Kevin toward becoming Horde.

Sam Jackson has the skill to really let Elijah carry a chapter of the story; and as we saw in Unbreakable, his backstory is actually pretty interesting and emotionally resonant. Seeing how Elijah has fared in the time since (and what he thinks of a changed world) would be compelling.

Shattered Panes

Seeing Mr. Glass play the mastermind villain would be fun – but what would be the purpose?

Well, in Unbreakable, Elijah had a clear agenda to prove that comic books were a chronicle of real-world phenomenon. What better way to do that than by orchestrating a Lex Luthor-style showdown between David and Horde – for all the world to see.

A running theme in both Unbreakable and Split has been that of people overcoming limits (physical and emotional) and evolving into something greater, inside and out. Glass could take that idea a step further, in telling a story about how old barriers of understanding regarding our potential (physically, emotionally, psychologically), need to be broken, so that we can evolve into something greater.

That would be a strong way to tie in both Elijah’s story and the ideas Shyamalan has clearly been building on – not just in Unbreakable, but really his entire filmography. It’s also a story we would love to experience in the theater.