Samuel L. Jackson Responds to 'Split' Post-Credits Sequence and Return to 'Unbreakable'

(WARNING: Spoilers for Split and Unbreakable 2 follow)

For those of us who've seen Split, we know the conclusion left a big cliffhanger ending, teasing a crossover with one of M. Night Shyamalan's past movies, Unbreakable. In the past, Shyamalan has teased that his films are all somehow connected, but this is the first time Shyamalan has actually connected two of his films together by transplanting a past character into a new film.

Shyamalan Teases Sequel to 'Unbreakable' in Post-credits Sequence of 'Split'

It shouldn't come as a surprise seeing as how Shyamalan's recent movies haven't performed as well as expected. Developing a sequel to one of his better movies, Unbreakable, is probably the right way to go for Shyamalan at this point in his career. Keep in mind that Shyamalan's intended sequel to Unbreakable will likely be a sequel to Split as well since the post-credits sequence in Split left an open-ended conclusion for James McAvoy to return as Kevin Wendell Crumb in Unbreakable2.

Towards the conclusion of the film, Kevin (James McAvoy) develops yet another personality, only this personality turns out to be bestial in nature, calling itself "the beast." When "the beast" finally takes control of Kevin's body, he leaves his home under the zoo and that's the last time he's seen.

Breakdown of Post-Credits Scene in 'Split'

No one knows where Kevin has gone but he's been branded a fugitive and given the criminal alias, the Horde. He's on everyone's watch list, so much so that even the local news is covering Kevin's daring escape, which is where the post-credits scene of #Split picks up.

When the scene begins, an ongoing news report can be seen on a television screen in a diner. All the people in the diner are talking about the report, mainly because news of Kevin Wendell Crumb turned into a frenzy after the media learned of his crazed acts.

One of the patrons in the diner mentions that the report on Kevin Wendell Crumb is somewhat reminiscent of a report 15 years earlier about a crazy guy in a wheelchair. The patron can't remember the name of the person, which is when Bruce Willis' character, Dunn chimes in with the name: Mr. Glass.

In case you don't remember, Mr. Glass is the criminal alias given to Samuel L. Jackson's character in Unbreakable. So, considering how Dunn (Bruce Willis) has returned and he's namedropping Mr. Glass, it would seem like they're heading for another inevitable confrontation.

Looking closer at the dialogue between the diner patron and Willis's character Dunn, the female patron's recollection of Mr. Glass seemed like she'd long forgotten about him, which probably means Mr. Glass hasn't been heard of since he was arrested. Now, that may be just her shoddy memory, but if the world has forgotten about Mr. Glass, he's probably still in a mental institution, unable to cause any more havoc. However, Samuel L. Jackson may return to reprise his role as Elijah Price a.k.a. Mr. Glass after all.

Could Samuel L. Jackson return for 'Unbreakable 2'?

Jackson was recently interviewed by Collider, in which he was asked how he reacted to Split and it's interesting post-credits sequence. Here's what Jackson had to say.

"I got a call and [Shyamalan] said, ‘Call me I wanna talk to you about something.’ And I called him, because I always do when I get a message from him always hoping [it’s 'Unbreakable 2'], and he said, ‘I just did this film called 'Split,' I want you to see it,’ and I was like ‘OK, I’m down with that.’ I had no idea what 'Split' was about or anything else, and he said, ‘We’ll talk after you see it.’ So I went to the arranged screening and I called him immediately and was like, ‘OK dude does this mean what I think it means?’ and he was like, ‘Well first we gotta see how the movie does’. And I think the movie’s done well enough now to merit the ‘OK, let’s put this together.'"

After reviewing Jackson's comments, it sounds like he's quite enthused about the potential for a sequel to Unbreakable. Jackson and Shyamalan may even be in negotiations as we speak. Although, we'll have to wait until Shyamalan provides us with another firm update to confirm Jackson's involvement with the project.

On a more soft note, Shyamalan did tweet out the status of what is presumed to be the script for Unbreakable 2/ Split 2.

Shyamalan's tweet doesn't explicitly say he's working on a script for Unbreakable/ Split 2, but the hint towards Split spells out exactly what Shyamalan meant: a sequel to Unbreakable.

Where does the 'Split' post-credits sequence take the story next?

As for where the story might go following the post-credits sequence of Split is up for debate, but it seems like the scene was more than implying that Dunn exists in the Split universe to take down Kevin Wendell Crumb.

After Kevin developed his last personality, he surrendered complete control of his body over to the manipulating personalities within him. Even the trigger word that would allow Kevin to regain control of his body lost its effect in the end, leaving nothing but "the Horde" in Kevin's body. More importantly, the Horde presents the ideal adversary for Dunn in a sequel to Unbreakable.

While Kevin / The Horde is the perfect candidate to be the main antagonist of Unbreakable / Split 2, we should still keep Elijah Price's presence in the back of our minds. Price is currently locked up in an asylum but that is likely temporary. If it is, then Price could feasibly return as a side villain in Unbreakable / Split 2. Or, Elijah Price could take a heel turn and become an ally to Dunn (Bruce Willis) in his pursuit of Kevin Wendell Crumb.

Bruce Willis to Fight James McAvoy in 'Unbreakable 2?'

Whatever the case may be, we don't know anything at the moment and Shyamalan is barely developing a script, so it'll probably be quite some time before any firm updates are made. For now, the only thing we can confirm is Bruce Willis's involvement (otherwise he wouldn't have returned for the post-credits sequence in Split).

As for Jackson and McAvoy, their involvement with the project are up in the air, but Jackson is most likely to return if his interview comments are any indication of the enthusiasm he has for a sequel to Unbreakable. McAvoy is also likely to reprise his role in Shyamalan's universe but the prospect of McAvoy returning is unclear when we account for the cliffhanger ending in Split being open-ended.

(Sources: Collider)