Normal just had its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival, and the movie continues an interesting trend for lead actor Bob Odenkirk. After starring as the no-nonsense retired mercenary Hank in Nobody, the actor’s newest film will flip the script on this formula and see him playing the small-town detective.

Odenkirk returned earlier this year with Nobody 2, which saw Hank take his family on vacation to a run-down holiday park that was housing a dark criminal secret.

While Nobody 2 received mixed reviews in comparison to the first movie, the actor has repeatedly expressed his interest in coming back for a third movie. So much, in fact, that aspects of Nobody seem to have bled into his new project.

Normal Is Another Small Town Crime Thriller

Judging by the plot synopsis for Normal, it seems to be coincidentally borrowing a lot of story beats from Nobody 2. Not only does it take place in a sleepy small town, just like Nobody 2’s Plummerville, but it also centers around an organized crime syndicate that’s operating behind the scenes.

It’s worth noting that Derek Kolstad, the writer of Normal, was also responsible for the scripts of Nobody and Nobody 2. It’s possible that some of his ideas bled through his original action franchise to this new thriller, allowing him to play with similar concepts from a totally different perspective.

Because despite the similarities between Normal and Nobody 2, the stories are seemingly told through very different lenses. In Odenkirk’s new movie, he plays a by-the-book sheriff who’s trying to uncover the secrets of the small town – but in Nobody, he’s much more involved in the action and directly responsible for much of the chaos that’s happening behind the scenes.

This creates an effective distance from the Nobody franchise, exactly what Normal needed. Letting Odenkirk remain firmly within the action genre is a good way of maintaining his action hero image without merely rehashing Nobody’s plot. Nobody 3 may be coming some day, but for now, it’s good that Odenkirk isn’t confined to a single franchise.

Odenkirk’s career has been through countless evolutions over the years, from a stand-up comedian in the ‘90s, to a dramatic actor in Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul, and now he’s clearly feeling more comfortable in the action genre.

Normal is an effective step forwards — familiar enough that audiences won’t feel thrown off by it, but notably different enough from Nobody 2 that it doesn’t feel like exactly the same concept.