Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery includes direct parallels to real-world celebrities in a way that draws plenty of humor from its meta murder-mystery story. While the film draws humor from a variety of other sources, such as Benoit Blanc's continued eccentric ways, the celebrity parallels often tie directly into the story. This is done by impacting the characters' motivations and therefore the murder mystery aspect as a whole.

While not every character has a direct celebrity parallel, a number can be tied to a variety of real-world events through the film's time setting. However, one character with a more overt connection is Edward Norton's Miles Bron, who is almost a carbon copy of Elon Musk and other billionaires. Another obvious parallel is Dave Bautista's Duke, who is clearly based on internet personality Joe Rogan. Other links come from Leslie Odom Jr's Lionel who is similar to Steve Wozniak, amid a few Glass Onion characters who have broader links to different celebrities like the Kardashians or politicians.

Related: Every Cameo In Glass Onion Explained

Ed Norton's Miles Bron Is Like Elon Musk (& Others)

Edward Norton smirks in Glass Onion

As mentioned, the most obvious parallel to a real-life celebrity is Miles Bron as Elon Musk. Miles Bron in the film is a wealthy billionaire who earned his money through a technology company. This draws direct parallels to Musk whose vast wealth has been acquired through similar means. Glass Onion draws plenty of humor from Bron's various ideas he constantly pitches or has previously pitched throughout the film, drawing parallels again to Musk whose constantly varying business ventures often fall flat or are done on a whim, such as his recent procurement of Twitter.

Another parallel to Musk comes in Bron's personality. Outside of his vast wealth acquired through similar means, Bron is written by Rian Johnson and performed by Norton as having a "tech-bro" personality. Bron in Glass Onion is constantly referencing other celebrities through name-drops and merchandising. He is also very arrogant and condescending because of his apparent genius and unrivaled wealth - traits many members of the general public also believe Musk to possess. However, these things can also draw connections to entrepreneurs like Steve Jobs, with the film even showing Bron in a black turtleneck synonymous with Jobs at one point, though the connections to Musk are more prominent.

Dave Bautista's Duke Cody Riffs On Joe Rogan

Dave Bautista holding a gun on a motorbike in Glass Onion

Another of the film's overt parallels is that of Dave Bautista's Duke Cody. In Glass Onion, Duke is a Twitch streamer and men's rights activist who has had his fair share of controversies. This links directly to Rogan, whose main source of fame comes from his online podcast. In the past, Rogan has often been labeled a men's rights activist due to his views on various topics. Outside this link, Rogan has also had plenty of controversies through his internet exposure, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic which Netflix's Glass Onion is set amidst. Through these things, Duke can also be compared to other controversial internet figures like Andrew Tate.

Leslie Odom Jr's Lionel Toussaint Is The Steve Wozniak To Miles' Steve Jobs

Glass Onion Leslie Odom Jr

Another character draws more parallels between Miles Bron and Steve Jobs, with Lionel Toussaint being akin to Steve Wozniak. Lionel is the head engineer of Miles' company and often is asked to make Miles' ideas happen as he comes up with them. This is similar in some ways to the real-life relationship between Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak. Where Jobs was the entrepreneurial, business-minded, designer side of Apple, Wozniak was often considered the genius, engineering, programming side. This is portrayed in the Glass Onion movie through Miles and Leslie Odom Jr's Lionel, with the latter being introduced as someone who waits on the former's ideas and tests/creates them.

Related: Why Glass Onion's Reviews Are So Positive

Kate Hudson's Birdie Jay Is A Kardashian-Esque It Girl

Kate Hudson and Jessica Henwick talking in Knives Out 2 Glass Onion

One of the other more obvious parallels, though more so to a "type" of celebrity than anyone in particular, is Kate Hudson's Birdie Jay. The film starts in May 2020, at the heart of the COVID-19 pandemic, and introduces Birdie through a huge party at her apartment. From the obvious lack of social distancing and the mixing of various people, all accompanied by the darkly hilarious COVID briefings on the many TVs seen in the apartment, it is clear what kind of celebrity Birdie is riffing on. Given her fame coming from various beauty lines and modeling, it is clear Birdie is based on the likes of the Kardashians.

At multiple points throughout the pandemic - which Glass Onion utilizes as one of the few COVID comedy movies that actually works - the Kardashians were criticized for breaking lockdown rules, as paralleled by Birdie's opening scene. Also, one of Birdie's main storylines in Glass Onion surrounds the controversy of her clothing line using sweatshops, which Birdie misunderstood as simply being the name for buildings where sweatpants are made. Kim Kardashian specifically has had similar controversies, like releasing a clothing item named a Kimono that was vastly different from the traditional Japanese garment of the same name, leading her to be accused of cultural appropriation before changing the name of the product.

Kathryn Hahn's Claire Debella Is A Commentary On Corrupt Politicians

Glass Onion Kathryn Hahn

The main plot point of Glass Onion surrounds the various characters being invited to Miles Bron's private island during the pandemic. Kathryn Hahn, of recent MCU fame, plays Claire Deballa, who is a commentary on how politicians can be corrupt in today's world - both through her breaking of the lockdown to visit Miles, and how her power came to be. At many points throughout the pandemic, many politicians both in the US and UK were criticized for the breaking of rules they set out, which is loosely touched on by Claire in Glass Onion.

The main way this parallel happens, however, is through Claire's political campaign. Miles' wealth is one of the main reasons behind Claire's success, as his company had been endorsing her and vice versa. As such, Claire endorsed Klear, a highly unstable alternative fuel source pitched by Miles, which puts her career at risk. Despite the risk to human lives that could come through endorsing Klear in Glass Onion, Claire does so to keep her career going. This is a clear commentary on the often corrupt politicians in today's political climate, and one of the most pertinent parallels between characters and real-world celebrities in Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery.

Next: Everything We Know About Knives Out 3