How 'Glass' connects to 'Unbreakable' and 'Split'

DId you spot these Unbreakable and Split references?
DId you spot these Unbreakable and Split references?

WARNING THIS ARTICLE CONTAINS SPOILERS FROM GLASS

Glass marks the conclusion of M. Night Shyamalan’s Eastrail 177 trilogy and it is filled to the brim with references to the earlier movies.

Unbreakable was originally released in 2000 while Split was released 16 years later and both set up the climactic events of the third film, pitting superhero against supervillains.

Fans of the trilogy will have spotted several nods to the earlier films as they watched Bruce Willis’ David Dunn try to stop James McAvoy’s Kevin Wendell Crumb and Samuel L. Jackson’s Elijah Price from harming any more people.


However, if you need a refresher here are all the major Easter eggs and references we saw in the film.

From Unbreakable

1. David Dunn wears, seemingly, the same green rain poncho he used while working security at the Philadelphia University football stadium as well as to test his powers at the train station that led him to the family whose home had been violently invaded by The Orange Man.

2. Casey (Anya Taylor Joy) attends the same school David’s son Joseph (Spencer Treat Clark) used to attend as his photo can be seen in a trophy cabinet outside the principal’s office.

3. Joseph also seems to be a part-time coach or volunteer at the school and during a coaching session, he watches a man lifting weights with kids cheering him on, which is a nod to when he helped his father test out his strength in their home weight room.

Unbreakable’s weight lifting scene is referenced in Glass
Unbreakable’s weight lifting scene is referenced in Glass

4. The same comic book store and clerk appear in the film and he makes a similar remark to Joseph as he made to Elijah Price in the first film by telling him not to masturbate with the Hello Kitty comics.

5. Before killing Darryl, Elijah says the same line he said to David Dunn 19 years earlier: “Not knowing why you’re here is a terrible feeling.”

6. Casey visits the store and reads Action Comics, the same publisher’s comics Elijah’s mother (Charlayne Woodard) gifted her son as a child and whose art featured heavily in his Limited Edition art gallery.

From Split

7. As Hedwig, he boasts that he has a girlfriend who kissed him, which was actually Casey who was trying to trick him into letting her escape.

8. Casey says her uncle has been locked up, as we learned in the previous film that she had been sexually assaulted by him ever since she was a child.

9. Casey also still wears the Pennyslyvania Zoo jacket she was given by one of the workers after she was let go by The Beast and found in the abandoned cages.

Split’s Casey and Hedwig appear in Glass
Split’s Casey and Hedwig appear in Glass

10. Dr. Ellie Stapler (Sarah Paulson) finds the note Dr. Fletcher wrote revealing Kevin’s full name moments before her death, in his case file.

11. The same news anchor who reported Casey’s kidnapping appears in this film too.

12. Kevin’s wounds from Casey shooting him with a shotgun are visible on his body when he’s in Beast form.

From Unbreakable and Split

13. Shymalan’s cameo in all three is actually the same character called Jai. In Unbreakable, David Dunn sensed he was a drug dealer so searched him at the stadium.

In Split, he’s the security guard at Dr Fletcher’s building and in Glass it’s because of her death “off-site” that he visits Dunn’s home security shop to purchase some equipment. Jai also mentions he had turned his life around after running around with ‘shady’ people at the stadium in his youth.

14. Kevin’s dad Clarence W. Crumb was not only on the same train as David Dunn but in the seat opposite him as a flashback indicates.

M. Night Shyamalan’s original appearance as Jai in Unbreakable
M. Night Shyamalan’s original appearance as Jai in Unbreakable

15. David, Elijah and Kevin are given clothing in the psychiatric facility that is reflective of their comic book colours. So David’s are green to match his rain poncho, Elijah wears purple to match his suits and style and Kevin wears yellow which is reflective of Hedwig’s yellow tracksuits. Elijah’s mother also wears purple and her home is accented with it too.

16. The film ends at the same train station where Elijah originally placed the bomb on the Eastrail 177, where David tested out his intuition powers on the public and where Kevin (as Dennis) finds an abandoned train, similar to the one his father died in, triggering The Beast to take over for the first time.

Glass is in cinemas now

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