Bullet Train: Everything Connected to the Ending Explained

Bullet Train, an American action comedy premiering in theaters on August 5, is based on the 2010 Japanese novel Maria Beetle by Kotaro Isaka. The film has had an average opening at the theaters but is packed with mind-blowing action, stunning choreography, stylish dialogues and scenes, and a star-studded cast.

Brad Pitt returns in the 2022 film after his recent film The Lost City. He is joined by his previous co-star Sandra Bullock again in the thriller comedy, and joining them are Brian Tyree Henry, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Andrew Koji, Bad Bunny, Joey King, Michael Shannon, Hiroyuki Sanda, and Logan Lerman.

The action thriller follows the Ladybug, an assassin with rotten luck that has somehow managed to survive all his missions with a masterful skillset, assigned to retrieve a suitcase aboard a bullet train traveling from Tokyo to Kyoto. 

Ladybug assumes the task is easy enough, but complications start unraveling his hopes of a safe return when four other assassins board the train with the same job—get the suitcase before anyone else.

Amid the bloodshed and general mayhem packed in with the action, punchlines, quirky dialogues, and psychological ruminations, the film’s ending was a little lost on the audience. 

One thing was clear, the mastermind behind this convoluted plan was White Death, the head of the world’s largest crime syndicate, but his reason for executing this mission was simple—avenging his dead wife. So, let’s unpack the whole story to understand the film’s “end.”

Michael Shannon’s White Death brought together all the pieces on the board who had a hand in the death of his wife. That is, except for White Death’s daughter, who was revealed to be King’s Prince, Sanada’s Elder, who had boarded the train to keep his son out of harm’s way, and Bad Bunny’s Wolf, who had his own revenge against The Prince. 

Expecting the three, White Death had set everyone up aboard the train to meet and kill each other without ever knowing his hand behind it, and if they were reluctant to do so, he’d do it himself. 

White Death hired The Hornet (Zazie Beetz) to kill his son (Logan Lerman), who was just a burden to his father, always getting in unwanted trouble. And in turn, he also hired the twins Tangerine (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) and Lemon (Brian Tyree Henry) to “protect” his son and retrieve the suitcase of cash.

Ladybug technically was also not supposed to be on the train, which confirms his rotten luck because he was simply filling in for Carver, who had been unable to do the mission at Maria Beetle’s behest, due to a stomach bug. His luck was definitely not nearly as bad as Ladybug’s in that case.

But what was the logic behind White Death blaming Tangerine, Lemon, The Hornet, Carver, and even his own son for his wife’s death? Let’s untangle that mess by pulling on one string and unraveling the plan!

Carver was sent to assassinate White Death by Maria Beetle, but when he crashed into the Russian crime lord’s car, it was not him but his wife who took a critical hit. So that solves the mystery of Carver’s involvement in White Death’s revenge plan, which unfortunately reeled in Ladybug.

But why was White Death’s wife in the car, and upon that, alone? The couple was supposed to bail their son out of jail. But Tangerine and Lemon called White Death to Bolivia to resolve the problem they had gotten into, and the crime lord had to leave his wife unprotected, indirectly linking the two assassins and his son into the circle of the guilty.

But his wife would’ve been alive if not for The Hornet. White Death’s wife was taken to the hospital, and on her death bed, she had a small chance of survival if her doctor could save her from death’s clutches. But the Hornet had poisoned his wife’s surgeon, and he died, along with the chance of White Death’s wife surviving. This wraps up the grand plan of the Bullet Train orchestrated by White Death.

Even though Ladybug had no part in his wife’s death, the crime lord was too far gone to stop before finally exacting his revenge. He pulled out his daughter’s gun to kill Ladybug, but for once, Ladybug’s luck shined him when the rigged trigger ended up blowing White Death’s head and not his.

With that, we wrap up the end of White Death, his plan and the film’s end, which showed Brad Pitt’s Ladybug and Sandra Bullock’s Maria Beetle walking off in the sunset, positively glowing.

About Bullet Train

Bullet Train is an American Action Comedy based on Zak Olkewicz’s adapted screenplay of the 2010 Japanese novel Maria Beetle. The film is directed by David Leitch and distributed by Sony Pictures Releasing.

The film follows Ladybug, a seasoned but unlucky assassin, trapped in a Japanese bullet train with four other assassins. They find out their missions have one thing in common – they all have to retrieve a mysterious briefcase.

Brad Pitt, Joey King, Bad Bunny, Aaron Talyor-Johnson, Hiroyuki Sanada, Andrew Koji, Micheal Shannon, Brian Tyree Henry, Sandra Bullock, and Logan Lerman star in the thriller comedy out on August 5, 2022.

Source: TheWrap