Every Hint To Red Notice’s Big John Hartley Twist

Netflix’s Red Notice ends with a big twist about Dwayne Johnson’s John Hartley, and the movie repeatedly teases the surprise ending. Starring Johnson, Gal Gadot, and Ryan Reynolds, the film takes each of their characters on a globe-trotting adventure to find Cleopatra’s three rare eggs. For most of Red Notice‘s runtime, Johnson’s Interpol agent John Hartley and Reynolds’ master art thief Nolan Booth work together to beat Gadot’s criminal mastermind The Bishop. However, the movie concludes with a big John Hartley twist.

Red Notice‘s twist ending reveals that Dwayne Johnson isn’t the hero of this story and is the main villain instead. This comes after John Hartley, Nolan Booth, and The Bishop escape from a group of Interpol agents with their stolen items. Booth has possession of the third Cleopatra egg and believes he’s outdone The Bishop, but that is when Hartley reveals that he’s actually a criminal and working with The Bishop, who is also his romantic partner. While Red Notice‘s John Hartley twist might seem sudden, the movie repeatedly teased who he really is.

The first indication of John Hartley’s criminal profession comes almost right at the start of Red Notice. Other Interpol agents mention they haven’t heard of Hartley until fairly recently, but the movie uses Ryan Reynolds’ jokes to really call The Rock’s character into question. During their first fight, Booth questions if Hartley was really the bad guy. This may have just been Booth’s way of trying to get out of his current predicament, but Red Notice‘s ending reveals that he was right. Hartley is a bad guy, and he admits it to Booth in this instance by saying, “You’re right. I am the bad guy,” knowing full well that the art thief would never believe him.

There are other teases to John Hartley’s twist included throughout Red Notice. He directly asks The Bishop if she has a partner when they dance at a party, and she openly admits that she wouldn’t be able to do all of this alone. It isn’t until the movie confirms Hartley and The Bishop’s connection that flashbacks reveal how they orchestrated different events to hide their allegiance. Red Notice hides their teamwork well in these scenes, which is why Booth and audiences never really caught on to Hartley’s true agenda.

John Hartley’s twist arguably was also foreshadowed with Gadot’s character’s name being The Bishop. In chess, each player has two bishop pieces. Since Red Notice‘s characters are master strategists to pull off their different crimes, an affinity for chess is understandable. That could’ve tipped off viewers that a second Bishop is part of Red Notice‘s story, with Booth being a pawn in the grand scheme of John Hartley’s master plan.

About The Author

Cooper Hood
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Cooper Hood is a news and feature writer for Screen Rant. He joined Screen Rant in late 2016 following a year-long stint with MCU Exchange, which came after first developing an MCU blog of his own. He graduated college in 2016 with a Bachelor’s degree in Media & Public Communication, with a minor in Media Production. Cooper’s love for movies began by watching Toy Story and Lion King on repeat as a child, but it wasn’t until The Avengers that he took an invested interest in movies and the filmmaking process, leading him to discover the world of film journalism. Every year Cooper looks forward to seeing the latest blockbusters from the likes of Marvel, DC, and Star Wars, but also loves the rush to catch up on Oscar films near the end of the year. When he isn’t writing about or watching new releases, Cooper is a fantasy football obsessive and looking to expand his Blu-Ray collection – because physical media is still king! Follow Cooper on Twitter @MovieCooper.

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