New Theory Says Christopher Nolan’s Tenet Is A Secret Sequel To Inception

It’s hard to deny just how large of an impact Christopher Nolan has had on the film industry over the past two decades. To this day, many consider The Dark Knight to be one of the best comic book movie adaptations ever made, and the sheer level of ingenuity and originality on display in Inception and Interstellar is enough to make one’s head spin. And let’s not forget Dunkirk – I’m still sour that it got largely ignored during awards season.

Of course, there’s plenty to look forward to as well. Nolan’s next film, Tenet, is due out in less than a year, and earlier this week, Warner Bros. Pictures secretly released a brief teaser, which can only be viewed in theaters (it’s tied to screenings of the new Fast and Furious spinoff, Hobbs & Shaw). Needless to say, fans went wild for the snippet, and plenty of theories and speculation have been popping up left, right and center.

As ComicBook.com reports, the aforementioned teaser hints at a time travel element, with star John David Washington (of BlacKkKlansman fame) caught in some sort of loop. The title cards also note that the “Time has come for a new protagonist” and the “Time has come for a new mission.” As has become standard, moviegoers are keen on drawing comparisons and connections between films which are otherwise unrelated, and as a result, some are theorizing that the dream tech from Inception has since evolved to deal with time travel.

According to ComicBook.com:

Tenet could reveal that the dream tech developed for the military in Inception has gone even further, or been developed into something even more dangerous, this time allowing spy missions to not work in the realm of dreams but possibly travel through time. Perhaps the events of Inception had terrible, unforeseen consequences, leading to a next generation having to deal with things. The idea of dealing with a next generation is also intriguing as Nolan has notably shifted the focus of things in films such as Interstellar from being the story of the “older” protagonist and seen a focus in younger generations being the “heroes.”

Of course, there’s no concrete link between the two movies just yet, but the almost surreal look of the Tenet teaser has some thinking of Nolan’s past work. In any case, there’s still plenty of time from now until the film’s release and we’ll be sure to keep you updated as we inch closer towards July 17th, 2020.