I agree. Even stuff like the word consumption was I. The original script. I think he gave her the choice but I think they both knew she would go for the creature route. There is way too much symbolism of the parasite

Some think she used her ability to astral project to embed herself in The memories of the mom being her Aunt

The original main cast vs. the final cast of Zach Cregger’s #Weapons pic.twitter.com/8scGLMIy1M

— Culture Crave 🍿 (@CultureCrave) August 12, 2025

I could've seen Brian Tyree Henry in that role and it probably would've been equally good but otherwise, I think basically every cast member we got was much better for the movie https://t.co/ZyyHmnVVta

— Mr. Chau (@Srirachachau) August 12, 2025

Multiple sources tell THR that Warner Bros. and New Line are already talking with Zach Cregger about making a 'Weapons' prequel exploring the origin story of Aunt Gladys https://t.co/g8klQAYymS pic.twitter.com/7whNOnmwkl

— The Hollywood Reporter (@THR) August 12, 2025

Went to this one last night. It was a very solid movie. Lots of deep meanings.

I did like the non linear style.

Alex's storyline was heartbreaking, it was nice he was the one that got Gladys.

One thing, every main characters name had deep meaning pretty much but the one I cannot figure out is Archer. Is it that simple that it's tied to archery and focus?

veryfuller said:

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I hope he passes on this. Leaving it to the audience is better IMHO.

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Agreed.

ExpressAg11 said:

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The seven hot dogs scene in ‘WEAPONS’ is a tribute to Zach Cregger’s late best friend, Trevor Moore

Cregger started writing the movie to cope with his death pic.twitter.com/Rb13MRS12t

— ScreenTime (@screentime) August 13, 2025

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ah man, I love that. I love the little claw hand motion Benedict did

TCTTS said:

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Multiple sources tell THR that Warner Bros. and New Line are already talking with Zach Cregger about making a 'Weapons' prequel exploring the origin story of Aunt Gladys https://t.co/g8klQAYymS pic.twitter.com/7whNOnmwkl

— The Hollywood Reporter (@THR) August 12, 2025

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What more needs saying? She's a witch. She uses a tree to cast spells. She's been alive for at least two hundred years. She's not Alex's actual aunt. She was feeding energy off her weapons. She was foiled by a child and torn apart by children.

Saxsoon said:

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Some think she used her ability to astral project to embed herself in The memories of the mom being her Aunt

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No, she just knew that the family she was conning had an Aunt. The mom's mother was dead. No way to check to see if the story was true. The family may have met her a long time ago but folks age, no photos to corroborate, and the Mom was doing this as an act of love and dedication to her own Mom. Further, at the end, Alex goes to live with their actual Aunt.

Agreed.

To be fair, though, it sounds like it would at least be based on previously-existing/discussed material, and not just a pure cash-grab...

Quote:

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"In an earlier draft of the script I had given her her own chapter," Cregger told io9 of his decision to keep Gladys' goals a mystery. "It was a little bit of an origin before she came to town. But I realized that it was just giving too much away. It's more compelling to not know some of these things. So I ended up cutting it very early on in the writing process."

One place some of that does exist, however, is just in Cregger's head, and he did decide to talk to his actor about it. "For [Gladys], I kind of had an idea of what was going on with her," he said. "And I talked with Amy [Madigan] about that somewhat, but I also want to respect Amy's process. And I want her to take ownership, and I want her to kind of create her own mythology. So I gave her a couple of options of what I think might be going on. And then I kind of didn't ask her too many questions about where she landed with it."

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https://gizmodo.com/weapons-spoilers-zach-cregger-gladys-amy-madigan-2000637376

Saxsoon said:

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ExpressAg11 said:

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The seven hot dogs scene in ‘WEAPONS’ is a tribute to Zach Cregger’s late best friend, Trevor Moore

Cregger started writing the movie to cope with his death pic.twitter.com/Rb13MRS12t

— ScreenTime (@screentime) August 13, 2025

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ah man, I love that. I love the little claw hand motion Benedict did

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My wife and I both looked at each other and did it at the same time.

Just saw this. This is my favorite film of the year so far. It's simultaneously scary, funny, inquisitive, and even playful. The fact they were able to juggle all of these tones while still being cohesive is really remarkable. I really think this is gonna be considered the new classic.

Horror fans eating good in the big 2025.

I just watched weapons over the weekend, and I think it's one of the best horror movies I've ever seen. It's pretty rare that the villain loses at the end of a horror movie, so I enjoyed that aspect. In addition to the prequel for aunt Gladys, I think there's at least one interesting direction they could go for a sequel. Perhaps Gladys was part of a coven of witches and one of them comes back to the town for revenge later? Maybe the prequel will set up the back story for the main villain in the sequel.

Head Ninja In Charge said:

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Didn't read through this whole thread, but the random (to me) assault rifle image Josh Brolin/Archer visualized is still strange as hell to me.

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My wife and I thought the same thing. I heard it was one of the posters in the background of his son's room, so it was showing the whole dream sequence he was having.

Holy poo that was fun.

Underrated line delivery: "Oh ****, Willow..."

What bugged me was the strange AR15 that popped out of nowhere into the sky.

I got around to watching this on HBO Max and it was AWESOME! I was a little hesitant to watch this since I've got a 9 year old at home and don't deal well with movies/tv where kids are harmed but I'm glad I took a leap and watched this. I liked this more than Barbarian and I really enjoyed that one. Telling a story from the point of view of multiple characters is tricky and he totally pulled it off. I still don't totally understand the giant floating AR-15 above the house in the dream but that's really my only gripe, which is a minor one. Two thumbs up on this one.

RightWingConspirator said:

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What bugged me was the strange AR15 that popped out of nowhere into the sky.

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I think that and the actual name of the movie were a bit of political messaging they used to both make a statement about guns but also as a sort of misdirection to intentionally mislead the viewers.

The main point of her enthralling people and especially the kids wasn't really to make them weapons but rather for her to feed off them.

I wondered why Archer (Josh Brolin) snapped out of the trance so quickly. I assume it was because he was only under the spell only for a few minutes; unlike the parents and kids who were bound for days.

Fun movie

Just watched it. Liked it throughout. Didn't love the ending.

Felt so bad for that kid the whole movie. To not get his parents back at the end as a payoff was brutal.

I'm a softie and not super into horror so probably just a me thing.