'Nope Part 2'? Jordan Peele hints at more stories beyond his flying saucer tale

Like Jordan Peele's other films, Nope is a story that invites more questions than it answers, and fans have spent the weeks since the film's release doing their best to answer all of those leftover questions for themselves. That means there's still plenty of speculation out there over the symbols and potential leftovers from the flying saucer story, and Peele himself notes that it's not an accident. In fact, it may be a setup for a sequel. 

Speaking to The New York Times this week to promote the digital release of the film -- the story of two siblings who try to capture evidence of a flying saucer terrorizing their family's ranch -- Peele was asked about several lingering questions from Nope, including the listing on IMDb of a character named "Nobody" who, as far as anyone can tell, never appeared in the film in a major way. The idea of a character with such an intriguing name who ended up on the cutting room floor has ignited fan speculation, and according to Peele, we might one day get to see some answers. 

"The story of that character has yet to be told, I can tell you that," Peele said. "Which is another frustrating way of saying, I’m glad people are paying attention. I do think they will get more answers on some of these things in the future. We’re not over telling all of these stories."

Peele did not elaborate on what "these stories" means in the context of Nope, whether he's considering a direct sequel or a sort of companion piece set in the same world. The world set up by the original film, and the implications of the flying saucer at the core of the story, do suggest a larger landscape in which other stories could play out, whether they're related to the Haywood ranch or not, so perhaps Peele is exploring other avenues by which he can dig deeper into the universe. 

Whatever those avenues may be, though, Peele is of course keeping largely quiet on the bigger ideas at play so far. He's also still making sure to leave several key aspects of Nope's story up to the audience, including the final shot of the film. For some viewers, it's not clear whether or not OJ (Daniel Kaluuya) survived the climax of Nope, but for the director himself, all the information is there if you're willing to look. 

"I think I made a film that has a very clear sequence of events as to what happened," Peele said. "I think it is very clear, and I will leave that at that.

"When a story works, it’s because I’m tapping into a story within somebody. What I find interesting is, what did you first think? I know what I thought, but what you thought is what’s more important to me."

Nope is now available to rent through on-demand platforms.