Warning: spoilers for Jumanji: The Next Level are in play. If you haven’t cleared the latest board in the franchise, press pause here and go catch up.
As the explosive events of Jumanji: The Next Level’s finale have expanded the potential of the franchise’s path towards a fourth entry, there are a lot of possibilities that await the players we’ve followed since meeting them in Jumanji: Welcome To The Jungle.
But in a greater twist of fate that could only come from a video game based narrative, there’s another physical player we haven’t seen in the Jumanji cinematic universe. And that private party was behind the villain of Jumanji: The Next Level the whole time; as revealed by star Dwayne Johnson in the social media announcement below:
In the middle of the heartfelt tribute that Dwayne Johnson wrote to actor Rory McCann, the man best known as Sandor “The Hound” Clegane from Game of Thrones, the actor/producer laid down the following clues that observant viewers may have picked up on in Jumanji: The Next Level's surprisingly twisty plot:
Cool plot twist about JURGAN (for those who caught it) is he’s an actual avatar in the game. Meaning - SOMEONE is playing him. But who? That’s the big mystery. In the next JUMANJI we’ll find out just who’s been playing the JURGAN THE BRUTE.
Jurgan The Brute was the boss at the end of Jumanji: The Next Level’s perilous journey through adventure and excitement. So it was to be assumed that, much like Bobby Cannavale’s Professor Van Pelt from Jumanji: Welcome To The Jungle, the character was a non-playable character who just happened to be the boss.
Which leads us to question if the person behind the villainous actions of Jurgan The Brute could have been the same person who fought the Jumanji crew as Professor Van Pelt. If that’s the case, could Jumanji: The Next Level’s sequel be the ultimate grudge match in the making?
Also, could this shadowy villain be behind the rift between the video game world and reality being shattered at the very end of the film’s events? Are they someone we’ve seen in Jumanji: Welcome To The Jungle or Jumanji: The Next Level’s very real world?
Pardon all the questions, but dropping a bombshell as big as this one is something that has us pretty shaken when it comes to the reality of the Jumanji-verse. If it wasn’t for Dwayne Johnson’s big Instagram post revealing this surprising truth, New Year’s Eve may have been the standard affair of reflecting on the year that had past, and looking ahead to the future.
But now, tonight’s festivities will see the question of who Jurgan The Brute is repeating in our heads throughout the evening. Which is only a good thing when it comes to the impression that director Jake Kasden’s second entry in the canon of Sony/Tri Star’s legacy franchise has left on the world.
As Jumanji: The Next Level has done gangbusters at the box office, everyone feels pretty confident that things will level up into another adventure to cap off this new trilogy of fun and games. And should that be the case, there’s now two pillars for the third adventure our intrepid player will experience to be built on.
Jumanji: The Next Level is in theaters now, and Dwayne Johnson, if you have any hints you want to drop as to what sort of clues the movie drops towards Jurgan The Brute’s identity, we’ll be glad to offer you an exclusive platform for such revelations.
