Warning: Major spoilers for Spiral below.
After a shocking cliffhanger of an ending, Spiral leaves its audience with more questions than answers. But the question remains of whether or not the franchise intends to answer those questions in a potential Saw sequel. Here's a look at every unanswered question from Spiral.
The horror movie follows Detective Zeke Banks (Chris Rock) and his partner William (Max Minghella) as they take on a case involving a series of violent murders against police officers. After seeing the horrifying and twisted ways that the cops are murdered, Zeke and William realize they're up against a murder emulating the Jigsaw killer, a.k.a. John Kramer. They have to race against time in order to survive and save their fellow police officers from gruesome endings. The killer takes out a number of cops before revealing his true identity to Zeke in Spiral's finale.
After believing he found his mutilated corpse, Zeke was shocked to learn William faked his death and was the killer all along. William revealed the motivation behind the murders he committed before escaping unseen by any police officer. The gory Saw sequel cuts to black as Zeke watches his former police offer father Marcus (Samuel L. Jackson) suffer a brutal death at the hands of William as he slips away.
What Was Article 8?
Spiral focuses on how corrupt its central police department is. Zeke's former partner finally gives the audience a reason for this corruption — Article 8. As he said, it allowed police officers to run wild around the city. Spiral's finale reveals that Marcus put Article 8 into action when he was the chief of police. He defends his actions by saying that the decision cleaned up the streets significantly. But Spiral never fully explains what Article 8 entailed, though the end result is essentially the Saw universe's "good intentions, bad outcome" version of the real-world broken windows policing model. It clearly eased restrictions on local police officers, but to what extent? In this way, Article 8 acts as a MacGuffin of sorts — its existence is what eventually pushes William to murder cops. Article 8 greatly impacted almost every character in Spiral, so it deserved something of an explanation.
Will The Other Police Officers Believe Zeke?
After turning in a dirty cop early in his career, the other police officers in his department labeled Zeke a snitch. They didn't trust him, and therefore never offered support. One even left Zeke in a dangerous situation that got him shot because he didn't want to offer backup to Zeke. So if he has such a poor reputation within his department, will the other police officers believe Zeke when he says William is the Jigsaw copycat killer in Spiral? Early in the movie, William cleverly flashes his "Charlie" tattoo to Zeke. William replicated that same tattoo on the body of one of his victims, giving the police department proof that the dead body was in fact, William. By the time the cops arrived at the scene, they would have seen Marcus' body and how immensely distraught with grief Zeke was. They could then easily dismiss his accusation against William by believing Zeke was simply too distressed to understand what really happened. They'll likely eventually realize that Zeke's account of events was accurate. But by then, it'll probably be too late.
Will William Continue To Kill Police Officers?
Because he believed he could recruit Zeke to join him, William took a big risk in revealing himself as the killer. While hoped to partner up with Zeke, William had to plan for the scenario in which Zeke said no to his proposition. In that situation, Zeke would obviously go to his colleagues to inform them that William was the killer. Would it be worth it for William to continue on with his twisted mission of revenge of killing police officers in Saw-like traps now that his identity was out in the open? Yes, he was skilled and careful enough to not leave any clues at his previous crimes. But the stakes were different the moment he came clean to Zeke. William will have to decide if the risk is worth it to avenge his father.
Will The Police Department Learn From Its Past?
While he went about it in a horrific way, William's mission in the socially conscious horror movie was to punish the police department for its past wrongdoings. During each individual murder, William explained to the individual what their past injustice was. He made sure the punishment fit the crime, as well. For example, the first police officer he killed regularly lied on the stand. So in response, William ripped out his tongue. William made sure to notify each of his victims why they were being forced to endure their individual brand of torture. He even killed their current Chief of Police because she constantly covered up corruption within her department. Murdering their chief, along with so many police officers, was a major blow to the department on a number of levels. But despite multiple devastating losses, will the department actually learn from its past? The police officers in Spiral absolutely took advantage of the power that Article 8 granted them and took it way too far. Although his tactics were morally wrong, William forced them to confront the damage they've done to the city. His punishment cost them colleagues and friends. Will the events of Spiral actually push the officers of the police department to change their ways? Or are they too corrupt to give up the unbridled power they believe they've earned?
Will Saw 10 Continue Spiral's Story?
Production on Saw 10 reportedly began before Spiral was even released in theaters. Spiral's subtitle, From the Book of Saw, begs the question of if Saw 10 will continue the story it set in place. Spiral is only loosely connected to the original series, with its only link being that it takes place in the same area that Jigsaw was active as a serial killer. The horror movie shows that Kramer's actions inspired a new generation of killers like William. Tacking on the phrase "from the book of Saw" proves that the franchise intends to create a Saw universe, similar to what The Conjuring movies did with spin-off films like the Annabelle series and The Nun. That means that, despite Spiral ending on a massive cliffhanger, Saw 10 could very well focus on a brand-new story. The Saw series is known for its cliffhanger endings, meaning that it wouldn't be out of the question for Spiral to end on such a shocking note and move on to a different story.