Edward Norton's Glass Onion Character Was Inspired By A Number Of Real, Unnamed Billionaires

Many writers look to real-life inspirations when they write fictional characters, but writer and director Rian Johnson was careful not to base eccentric billionaire Miles (played by Edward Norton) on any one specific person in his upcoming film "Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery." That doesn't mean that he and Norton created the self-obsessed tech bro entirely out of thin air, however, and Norton was surprised by just how many badly behaving tech magnates he was able to draw from.

In a press conference attended by /Film's Ryan Scott to promote the film's upcoming one-week limited theatrical release on November 23, 2022, Norton revealed that while no one specifically inspired Miles, some real-life billionaires have made the character's portrayal look a little more pointed. To be fair, it's not Norton's fault that some eccentric billionaires are basically parodying themselves in real time, especially those who have thrust themselves into becoming public figures. He also pointed out that many of these filthy rich folks are also conceited enough to convince themselves that he's making fun of them, even if he's not. Given the egos of some of the tech billionaires frequently making headlines, the man has a good point. We'll surely see plenty of rich weirdos telling on themselves on social media in the film's wake when they accuse the film of mocking them.

While audiences will have to wait until November 23 to catch "Glass Onion" in theaters (or December 23 on Netflix) to see exactly why Miles seems like he's based on some famous tech bro and make our own guesses as to who inspired him, Edward Norton said that there is a long list of people that helped him and Rian Johnson create the character:

"What's amazing, Rian and I have been talking about this a lot — the list of people it could be grows longer every day and even some of the ones we might not have thought were candidates have proven themselves to be, just in recent weeks. I said to Rian that I think it's sort of like Carly Simon's song 'You're So Vain (You'll Probably Think This Song is About You,' I think that there's a lot of tech Illuminati who probably will and should think that it's in reference to them. Men and women."

You can read our review to help with your guesses, but just from Norton's comments, I'm immediately picturing the guy who bought Twitter and can't handle even the most minute criticism, or maybe the pharmaceutical upstart whose empire was built on fraud. Either way, I can't wait to see how Johnson and Norton bring this annoying archetype to life.