M. Night Shyamalan’s 2024 film Trap presented something a little different from his usual twist-centric movies. Instead of setting up the premise and having the twist at the end pull out the rug, it was easy to tell through most of this movie that Cooper was the villain. Josh Hartnett plays Cooper, a Philadelphia firefighter who is taking his daughter to a pop star’s concert. When they arrive, they see the police swarming the concert, receiving a tip a serial killer is attending the concert that night.

Anyone who watched the trailers likely realized from the start that Hartnett’s Cooper was the killer the police were searching for. However, the film takes an interesting turn at the end when Cooper escapes the concert by abducting the pop star, and it seems a little convenient that he is able to get away from the police. At the very end of Trap, the police arrested Cooper, and the final sH๏τ hinted that he wasn’t going to remain in custody, making Cooper seem almost impossible to stop. It seemed very familiar to the Unbreakable franchise.

Trap Theory Indicates Cooper Has Powers Like David Dunn & The Beast

Cooper Seemed Almost Unstoppable

After the movie was released, one fan took to Reddit and came up with a theory that seemed very possible. Redditor liltomh posted some interesting thoughts about how Cooper from Trap seemed familiar to a shared universe character in M. Night Shyamalan movies:

“He was drugged, took at least 3 taser sH๏τs and still absolutely took out one of the SWAT guys. It required like 4 or 5 tasers to finally take him out and only moments later when he broke free again he was completely unscathed! The drugs had no effect?! Bit of a BEAST if you ask me.”

Of course, “Beast” refers to the main villain from Split and Glᴀss. In Split, Kevin Wendell Crumb had alternate personalities, one of which was the Beast, which gave him superhuman abilities and an almost unlimited tolerance for pain. In Trap, Cooper’s ex-wife drugs him, and the SWAT team members tase him multiple times. He hallucinated at a time when his mother complimented him for showing rare emotion, and then the police arrested him.

However, despite being drugged and tased, he was alert enough to get a bike spoke as the police led him out, and he smiled as it seemed he was about to break himself free and escape. In the comments of this Reddit theory, Redditors mentioned the shirtless scene mirroring Crumb in Split, and many fans said they had the same thoughts. Another fan mentioned the kidnapping footage, which showed he had excessive strength, and another said he almost had the same split personality.

Glᴀss Left The Door Open For A Sequel In World Of Unbreakable

Glᴀss Reveals That There Have Always Been Super-Powered People

The end of Glᴀss set up the reason for these theories. In Split, the movie showed that Kevin developed his mental disorder thanks to childhood trauma, and Glᴀss explained that people with powers were broken when they were young. This fits David Dunn, Elijah Price, and Kevin Wendell Crumb. It also fits Cooper in Trap. This all leads to the end of Glᴀss. The movie ends with the death of every powered character, including David, Elijah, and Kevin. While that seemed to mark the end of the franchise, there was a twist at the end.

After everyone’s deaths, Dr. Ellie Staple (Sarah Paulson) believes she succeeded in covering up all the evidence of people with superpowers, which has been her organization’s responsibility for millennia. However, Elijah beat her by ensuring that the footage was sent out before she could delete it, and Mrs. Price (Elijah’s mother), Casey (Wendell’s original victim from Split), and Joseph (David’s son) received it and released it to the public. Hence, the world now knows about these individuals.

Cooper could be the latest super-powered individual in this shared M. Night Shyamalan universe, even with everyone’s deaths. When the director made Split, he did not indicate that The Beast was in the Unbreakable universe. He waited until the post-credits scene to reveal the connection. While no post-credit scene in Trap ties into Unbreakable or Glᴀss, the escape hint leaves it open if Shyamalan wants to take the franchise in that direction.