What makes Knives Out, Rian Johnson’s 2019 murder mystery hit, such an enjoyable rewatch? It might be Johnson’s script, intricately crafted and smarter every time I revisit the film. It might be the incredible cast, perfectly balanced between established stars (Daniel Craig), new stars (Ana de Armas), and reliable character actors (Michael Shannon, Toni Collette). Or it might be the very fact of its success: that an original story could be this fun and inventive and make enough money to inspire faith in the future of movies.

Whatever it is, Netflix thinks there’s an appetite for more. This week, the streaming giant announced it would be buying Knives Out 2 and Knives Out 3 for a massive $450 million. It’s a minor bummer that we might not get to see these films in theaters; Knives Out was one of the most joyous theatrical experiences I’ve had in the past few years. But if Netflix’s ambition means we get two more of these movies guaranteed, so be it.

Per early reporting, the sequels will follow Craig’s Benoit Blanc as he solves new mysteries. It’s a great premise, but it also means that Johnson will need to create an entirely new cast of characters. The ensemble in Knives Out worked so well because they gelled as a collective unit. No one of them dominated the movie, but they all got their moment to shine, and the pieces fit together.

With this framework in mind, I decided to help Johnson out by making some suggestions before he begins the reported filming in Greece this summer. Here are my picks for the cast of Knives Out 2.

ADAM Driver

The obvious choice, but the necessary one. Driver is one of the most versatile actors in Hollywood—he’s easily flipped between being a moody Star Wars standout and the low-key engine of Jim Jarmusch films. In the murder mystery genre, having performers whose motives are unreadable is essential. Driver has the talent to be the centerpiece of the movie, guiding us through the story while never quite tipping his hand about whose side he is on. And having worked with Johnson previously on The Last Jedi, there could be a chance this one actually pans out.

André Holland

André Holland has tended to play virtuous leaders throughout his career, from a civil rights activist in Selma to a protector in Moonlight to a crusading agent in High Flying Bird. But Holland showed a different side in Passing, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in January and will be released on Netflix later this year. Holland tinkers with the image of the bedrock husband to become someone who isn’t quite sure of what they want themselves. It’s these two qualities together, someone who exudes virtue but has the capacity for vice just below the surface, that would make him such an excellent suspect in a murder mystery.

Billie Lourd

When was the last time you watched Booksmart? It probably wasn’t recent enough. Olivia Wilde’s high school comedy gets better every time, and in just a handful of scenes Billie Lourd delivers the MVP performance. Her chaotic energy always feels boundless while still making sense within the the world Wilde built.

Since Booksmart, Lourd hasn’t been in any movies outside of a very minor role in The Rise of Skywalker. It’s a shame, because Lourd has the talent to be an absolute star—not the kind that needs to make blockbusters, but the kind that can churn out consistently interesting roles. I don’t know what role Lourd would play in a Knives Out sequel, but it doesn’t really matter. She’d be perfect for it.

Daniel Craig

Let’s run it back, Benny.

John Cho

John Cho has been a key piece of the Star Trek franchise as Sulu, but he’s long been suited for more than side characters. He has leading man looks and commands the screen every time he appears. In two under-seen gems of the past few years, Columbus and Searching, he’s shown that he can carry a movie. The two films also showcase different skills: in Columbus he’s a steady, restrained presence, but in Searching, he slowly unravels as the story progresses. Given the setting of summertime Greece, I’d love to see Cho as some rich, suave mystery man, a role that would give him more room to ham it up than he’s had in the past.

Gugu Mbatha-raw

Gugu Mbatha-Raw is probably best known for the “San Junipero” episode of Black Mirror, an incredibly hyped piece of television that I have still not seen. I was blown away by her performance as Sophie in Joe Swanberg’s anthology series Easy. Mbatha-Raw appears in just two episodes of the show, but they are easily among the best thanks largely to her dynamic performance. She has a melancholic demeanor that inspires empathy by default, and I can see her using this to her advantage in a murder mystery.

Isla Fisher

Put Isla Fisher in your project and I can guarantee you it is going to be better. She takes so-so movies like Wedding Crashers and The Great Gatsby and infuses them with bursts of energy, and she takes what could have been so-so movies like Definitely, Maybe and Now You See Me and makes them a fun time. (That might be hyperbole about Now You See Me. A heist movie about a gang of magicians was always going to be awesome.) I can see Fisher in a Knives Out sequel as a ditzy vacationing American with something to hide. Whether in this movie or not, I hope she gets more sizable roles like this one to showcase her A+ comedic chops.

Marisa tomei

Marisa Tomei is one of the most charming, beautiful, hilarious, and talented actresses of the past 30 years. So why is it that she’s been stuck lately playing undersized mom roles? Tomei’s most notable roles of recent years are as Aunt May in the Spider-Man movies and as Pete Davidson’s mom in The King of Staten Island. She is great in Staten Island, and every time the movie drifts back toward Davidson I found myself wishing the movie could have just been about her character. She could do a lot with more screen time, and as someone who can play both charming and devious, she could take on any sort of role in Knives Out 2.

Riz ahmed

Riz Ahmed’s performance in Sound of Metal was by far my favorite of 2020, and it’s one of the very best performances of the past few years. After the groundswell of support the movie has received leading into the Oscars, there’s no question that Ahmed is on the precipice of A-list movie stardom. A Knives Out sequel would be the perfect platform to kick that off.

Samara Weaving

Samara Weaving was fantastic in the bloody thriller Ready or Not, which opened to meager box office numbers in 2019. The film has never found its cult audience because it doesn’t quite fit into one category—it’s somewhere in between horror and thriller and comedy, not quite serious but not quite camp, starring a bunch of actors people only sort of know. But Weaving’s performance made it clear that she is far more than a striking Margot Robbie lookalike. She’s got the brash confidence needed to carry a swaggering performance in a movie likes Knives Out 2.

Willem dafoe

Willem Dafoe was the first 100 percent lock I thought of when generating this list. Whether he’s played an empathetic motel supervisor in The Florida Project or a lunatic mariner in The Lighthouse, Dafoe consistently has consistently defied expectations in his recent projects. He’s got the look and menacing voice of a movie villain (which he carried to arch effect in the Spider-Man franchise), but roles like his in The Florida Project suggest a grizzly kindness as well. The ability to display both makes him a perfect fit for this list.

Let’s cast the 'Knives Out' sequel