WARNING: Spoilers for A Quiet Place Part II.
Why does Djimon Hounsou have such a minor role in A Quiet Place Part II? Previously, the acclaimed actor received Academy Award nominations for performances in In America and Blood Diamond, but doesn't even receive a proper name in John Krasinski's 2021 sequel. As it turns out, Hounsou's Man on Island character could be the lead protagonist (or villain) in the third franchise installment.
In A Quiet Place Part II, Hounsou first appears shortly after a cryptic marina sequence. Regan Abbott (Millicent Simmonds) and fellow survivor Emmett (Cillian Murphy) plan to travel to an island to transmit feedback from a radio tower using Regan's hearing aid, which will theoretically stun the monsters and make them easier to kill - especially as they're unable to swim. Actor Scoot McNairy briefly appears as "Marina Man," a zombie-like, implied cannibal who attacks Regan in A Quiet Place 2 before getting killed by two alien invaders. When Emmett and Regan escape to the island, they encounter Hounsou's character, who leads a colony of survivors and ultimately gets attacked (and presumably killed) by a monster that drifted to the island.
Hounsou's lack of screen time in A Quiet Place Part II subverts expectations. Many viewers will immediately recognize the actor and potentially even wonder if he'll be part of future franchise installments, which makes his death scene so viscerally impactful. Krasinski doesn't technically kill off Hounsou's character but rather forces audiences to contemplate his fate. For those who aren't unfamiliar with Hounsou as a performer, the character's kind behavior in A Quiet Place 2 allows viewers to empathize with him when a monster arrives on the island and pulls him away.
Most likely, Hounsou has little screen time in A Quiet Place Part II because his backstory will be explored in the third franchise installment. Filmmaker Jeff Nichols has already completed the script for a Quiet Place 3/spinoff; it's been revealed that the third movie won't necessarily be a direct sequel but rather a next installment that will broaden the universe. Both Hounsou and the aforementioned McNairy have enough talent and star power to headline a potential prequel movie, and their characters would potentially have more screen time in the third franchise movie.
A Quiet Place 2 establishes McNairy's Marina Man as a minor villain, and also Hounsou's Man on Island as a minor hero, which could ultimately be narrative misdirection. The sequel implies that the government transported two boats of survivors to the island and that an unknown tragedy resulted in other boats being left behind. Since A Quiet Place Part II doesn't explain what happened, audiences are led to believe that McNairy's group devolved into becoming cannibals, apparently the result of sickness and deteriorating health, while Hounsou's group developed their own society on the island. Considering Nichols' filmography, his upcoming Quiet Place story may very well explore the boat people subplot and what really happened during their interactions with the island survivors.