Now You See Me, Now You Don’t‘s director Rubem Fleischer teases potential sequel character arcs in a new Now You See Me 4 update. The magician-focused mystery franchise began over a decade ago with 2013’s Now You See Me, directed by Louis Leterrier. The movie introduced audiences to the mystical quartet including J. Daniel Atlas, Merritt McKinney, Jack Wilder, and Henley Reeves.
The series refers to this group as the Four Horsemen, who use their street magician skills to bull off bank heists during their shows. The most recent installment, Now You See Me: Now You Don’t, came out last year, and it brought back all the Horsemen, while also introducing new characters.
In an interview with MovieWeb, Fleischer discusses how the return of the Horsemen would work in Now You See Me 4. The director broke down the end of Now You See Me: Now You Don’t, wherein a big group of characters say “we are the horsemen.” He realizes that “their numbers have grown” since the series began.
As such, he thinks that these leads “will be working in conjunction together in future installments.” Check out the full quote from Fleischer below:
“There’s a moment at the very end of the movie where they’re all on stage together and they lock our arms, and they all say we are the horsemen. Good night. And it was originally the four horsemen. And then obviously their numbers have grown with Lula, and then now these three kids. There’s eight of them. So I like that it just says horsemen, like in the graphic, even outside the loop when we pulled back on that drone shot. So I’d like to think that they’re all going to be working in conjunction together in future installments.”
Fleischer is certainly spot on in his explanation of the franchise’s expansion. Now You See Me 2 introduced the character of Lula (Lizzy Caplan) as one of its new protagonists. This did not expand its cast size significantly, however, as Isla Fisher, who plays Henley, did not appear in that movie.
Fisher was back for Now You See Me, Now You Don’t, but the film decided to keep both magicians in the cast. As such, the mainstay cast had already expanded the Four Horsemen to five, by keeping both Lula and Henley.
The “three kids” in question are Dominic Sessa’s Bosco, Ariana Greenblatt’s June, and Justice Smith’s Charlie. Though there is some tension between them and the veteran Horsemen earlier on in the movie, Fleischer confirms that the group has all made peace by the end.
While the Now You See Me franchise has always had multiple leads to focus on, Now You See Me 4 will be tackling a new beast of an ensemble. The leading players have literally doubled since the franchise’s inception.
This will be an interesting pivot for the Now You See Me franchise. While the tricks and mysteries are still at the heart of the story, they will now have to spread their attention across a wider array of characters. Whether this helps the ensemble feel or detracts from more in-depth character development remains to be seen as the wait for Now You See Me 4 continues.
