Leigh Whannell’s Upgrade is set in a unique and terrifying future, and it has a brilliant connection to his take on The Invisible Man. Leigh Whannell has become one of the most respected names in the horror genre as one of the creators of the Saw franchise and also thanks to his work as a writer and director. In 2018, he brought Upgrade, a cyberpunk action film with a good dose of horror. Upgrade took the audience to the year 2046, where technology has evolved to the point where most people have some sort of technological enhancement.

Upgrade follows Grey Trace (Logan Marshall-Green), a technophobe auto mechanic who, after a car accident and attack in which four men killed his wife, Asha, and left him quadriplegic, is given a chance to regain control of his body through an AI chip called STEM. Grey agrees to it, but soon discovers STEM talks to him in his head, and guides him through a violent revenge against Asha’s murderers, with some shocking discoveries at the end. Two years later, Whannell brought The Invisible Man, which, even though it’s a completely different story and context, has a brilliant connection to Upgrade.

The Invisible Man’s Adrian Is Upgrade’s Cobalt’s CEO

Cobalt Contributed To Human-Computer Augmentation

Grey was against technological enhancements and most technology that had taken over daily life in the world of Upgrade, but Asha was the contrary. Asha worked for Cobalt, a company that contributed to human-computer augmentations, and throughout Upgrade, the brand could be seen in the enhancements of the men who attacked Grey. Ultimately, Cobalt didn’t have a big role in Upgrade and the company wasn’t the real enemy, but it does serve as the link between Upgrade and Whannell’s 2020 sci-fi horror The Invisible Man.

Based on H. G. Well’s 1897 novel of the same name and serving as a reboot of the 1933 classic film of the same name, The Invisible Man introduced the audience to Cecilia (Elisabeth Moss), who escaped from her abusive boyfriend, Adrian (Oliver Jackson-Cohen). Two weeks later, Adrian took his own life, but Cecilia believed he was still alive and had somehow become invisible to continue torturing her psychologically. Cecilia was right and Adrian faked his death and had been stalking her with an invisible bodysuit he had created.

Adrian was a genius scientist and CEO of Cobalt, the same company Asha worked for in Upgrade. Adrian’s plan was a lot more complex than it seemed, and he framed his own brother, and after his death, he revealed he was alive and had been kept captive by his brother. Cecilia met with Adrian and tried to get a confession from him, but in a twist ending to The Invisible Man, Cecilia took the bodysuit and killed Adrian, making it look like suicide. It’s unclear who took over Cobalt after Adrian’s death, but the company didn’t suffer without him.

Where Does The Invisible Man Fit In Upgrade’s Timeline?

Upgrade & The Invisible Man Are Part Of The Same Universe

Speaking to Today in 2020, Whannell addressed Cobalt’s presence in Upgrade and The Invisible Man, revealing it wasn’t a conscious decision to connect these two movies, but it was fun to have Adrian as the one who created the company Asha worked for in Upgrade. Although Upgrade was released first, it takes place in a not-so-distant future, while The Invisible Man is supposed to be set in 2020. In this world of Leigh Whannell movies, The Invisible Man goes first and then, many years later, is Upgrade, showing that Cobalt carried on after Adrian’s death and continued thriving in technology.

Source: Today.