The following contains spoilers for Now You See Me: Now You Don’t
Now You See Me: Now You Don’t, the third installment of the magical thriller series, was filled with twists and turns, some more heartbreaking than others. In the new sequel, the death of a beloved character came as a huge blow to the audience.
Morgan Freeman’s character, Thaddeus, met a tragic fate in Now You See Me 3. The former magician and professional debunker has been a part of the story from the very beginning. Unfortunately, his role in the franchise has come to a close as he was shot and killed during a raid at The Eye’s estate.
While fans saw him die before their very eyes, some were still hopeful because two major themes in all three movies are deception and illusions. So, naturally, more optimistic viewers thought there was a decent chance that the death was fake and Thaddeus would return in the future.
Unfortunately, Now You See Me 3 director, Ruben Fleischer, has officially crushed those hopes in an interview with Entertainment Weekly. When asked about the tragedy, he confirmed that it wasn’t just a magic trick, the character actually died. The director did admit that his death being an illusion was something that he had considered, but ultimately decided against it.
We thought about it, but it felt like maybe it would undermine the cause of the Horsemen. Because we toyed with the idea, maybe at the end he’s playing with his grandchildren doing a magic trick or something like that. But we chose not to, just to allow for Veronika truly to be as bad as she’s perceived. Morgan felt like it was the right thing to do, so I wouldn’t have done it if he felt otherwise.
Fleischer further elaborated on the decision to kill off Freeman’s character. He wanted the movie to have an emotional impact on both the characters and the audience. He felt like making the death real and permanent would raise the stakes. The director also acknowledged that the death would be very shocking for viewers and that it would be hard to watch.
That was a tough one, but it felt like the right thing to do in order to give the movie real stakes. He’s so beloved, and if Veronika Vandenberg is going to take out Morgan Freeman, arguably one of the most beloved film actors of all time, then it would have a real weight to it. That scene with Woody and Rosamund, where they’re in jail, and he’s clearly really upset, and he confronts her, is one of the most powerful and certainly dramatic scenes in the movie, and it only exists because we made the decision to kill off Thaddeus, which I think is really hard for audiences.
Fleischer shared that Freeman fully supported his decision. He said that the actor felt like Thaddeus’ demise in Now You See Me 3 was the right move as well.
You don’t go to a Now You See Me movie expecting there to be anyone dying. It was really challenging, but Morgan totally was on board with it and thought it was the right thing to do and brought his talent to it. I mean, I burst into tears watching him perform that because it was so emotionally evocative. He is like a grandfather to all of us in a way, and it was really powerful seeing him perform that.
Now You See Me: Now You Don’t is now in theaters.