It's hardly surprising that The Gray Man, which is currently available on Netflix, has
a bright future because the Russo brothers are working on it behind the scenes.
The star-studded action movie puts Chris Evans' psychotic mercenary Lloyd Hansen against Ryan
Gosling's black operations operative Court Gentry, alias Sierra Six, who is sought out
by Gentry when he obtains some incriminating evidence.
While the plot of the film is neatly resolved, many questions remain.
The most important of them is who precisely the "old guy" is that the CIA Group Chief
Denny Carmichael (Regé-Jean Page) is so concerned about.
There will be significant spoilers as we examine The Gray Guy to learn why Six is being sought
for, identify the "old man," and make predictions about the show's future.
In the first mission of The Gray Man, Six learns that the CIA assigned him to assassinate
Four, another participant in the Sierra experiment (Callan Mulvey).
Four gives Six a necklace that has a data card that provides proof that Carmichael is
suspect before he passes away.
Six delivers the encrypted card to former bureau chief Margaret Cahill before he departs
(Alfre Woodard).
She tells him that it demonstrates how Carmichael is "using the agency as his own personal hit
squad" when he meets her later.
This also applies to the unauthorized usage of Hansen, a friend of Carmichael's from their
Harvard days.
She refers to what Carmichael is doing as "shadow government activity," which indicates
that at least one higher-up is "covering his tracks" and is above his pay grade.
Cahill continues, "Someone extremely strong is controlling the situation."
Carmichael learned of Four's effort to sell the evidence to the higher bidder and sent
Six after him.
When he learns Six has the proof, he sends Hansen after Six to get the card, which can't
be replicated since it's a "dead disc," which means copying it will encrypt the encryption.
Six must first save his handler Donald Fitzroy's (Billy Bob Thornton's niece Claire) before
turning to the media (Julia Butters).
Hansen used Claire as a negotiating tool to get Fitzroy to divulge Six's whereabouts,
but because Hansen was unaware that Six had previously shown affection for Claire, he
is also understandably miffed.
After several set pieces, The Gray Man's grand conclusion sees Six and CIA ally Dani Miranda
(Ana de Armas) save Claire, albeit Fitzroy gives his life to aid Six and Claire in escaping.
When Carmichael's deputy Suzanne Brewer (Jessica Henwick), who also attended Harvard with him,
fatally shoots Hansen and then shoots Six in the leg, their final fight is abruptly
put to an end.
She plans to blame Hansen for the entire situation, absolving both herself and Carmichael of any
responsibility.
Claire is taken back to be cared for by the CIA while Six is sent back to prison, or at
least that is what she intended, in order to ensure that Six follows the tale she has
established.
In the film's concluding scene, Six escapes and saves Claire thanks to Brewer's story's
cooperation with the government and Carmichael's destruction of the asset.
Although the primary plot is resolved, there are certain loose ends that might be addressed
in subsequent motion pictures.
One, who is behind Carmichael's ascent to prominence and shielding him?
The Gray Man doesn't reveal this, but Kaz is the chief of Saudi intelligence in Washington,
DC, according to the novel.
In the novels, Kaz is in charge of planning things to work in his favor and utilizing
Carmichael to that purpose.
Although it's indicated in the film that Carmichael is acting selfishly, the sequel may retcon
it to imply he's accidentally engaging in even more questionable behavior.
The identity of the "old guy" that Carmichael and Brewer are so frightened about being discovered
as having hired Hansen is the second major unsolved enigma.
Carmichael claims that "heads will roll" if he learns that the repercussions are severe
in an early conversation: "You know, the last guy that pissed the old man ended up floating
in the Potomac."
The "old guy" and whomever is assisting Carmichael could be the same person, but it's more probable
that they are two distinct individuals.
The only other time the "old guy" is mentioned in the film is when Brewer asks Carmichael
if he's been in touch after Hansen essentially blows out Prague's city center.
However, this information is never revealed in the film.
Again, we anticipate that this would be brought up in a sequel along with the antics of other
characters like Dhanush's mercenary Avik San.
He is on Hansen's side up until the conclusion, when he realizes what a bad guy Hansen is
and chooses not to murder Dani when given the opportunity.
Dani may provide a challenge for Carmichael in the follow-up or in later films.
She has rejoined the CIA and continues to believe Brewer's account in order to protect
Claire.
However, now that Claire is well, she may seek to expose Carmichael, Brewer, and all
of their questionable actions.
However, the Russo brothers purposefully left a lot of loose ends in order to prepare for
further Gray Man adventures.
"Undoubtedly, this film is just the beginning of a wider narrative world that we have in
mind.
We tried to develop something that could be explored further since part of what we enjoy
about storytelling is the complicated, extended storylines "Digital Spy was told by Anthony
Russo.
"Our efforts to achieve it were aided in part by the ensemble's size.
We hope that the audience will be interested in following any of the several characters
that are performed by fantastic performers in the film."