‘Nobody’ First Look: Bob Odenkirk Becomes an Action Star

Ready for Bob Odenkirk to go full John Wick? I sure as hell am. Odenkirk, who has revealed himself to be a damn great actor through his work on Better Call Saul and in films like Steven Spielberg’s The Post, is now making the transition to action star in Nobody, a film written by John Wick scribe Derek Kolstad and produced by David Leitch, director of Atomic Blonde (and un-credited co-director of the first John Wick). The first images from Nobody have arrived, and they have a bloody and bruised Odenkirk fighting for his life.

EW has the Nobody first look images, which give us our first real glimpse of Bod Odenkirk in action star mode. Odenkirk’s career trajectory is pretty damn wild when you stop and think about it. He started writing for shows like Saturday Night Live and The Ben Stiller Show. Then his prominence grew when he appeared on the sketch comedy show Mr. Show. All of this established Odenkirk as a comedic figure, and that comedy presence continued even after he started appearing in Breaking Bad.

But it was the Breaking Bad spin-off Better Call Saul that helped establish that Odenkirk was a damn good actor. He could do drama just as well as comedy, and his appearances in films like The Post and Little Women confirmed that. Now, he’s taking things even further with Nobody, a film where the actor plays “Hutch Mansell, an unassuming family man who cowers and folds during a home invasion. His post-traumatic shame disorder reignites a long-cooled fire within, and he summons a secret lethal skill set for a revenge mission, only to see it backfire spectacularly and put his family in greater jeopardy.”

Nobody was written by Derek Kolstad, produced by David Leitch, and directed by Ilya Naishuller (Hardcore Henry), and according to Odenkirk: “I really wanted to go way far outside, like 180 degrees outside my comfort zone. Just commit to this guy, commit to his rage, and commit to his commitment to what he’s doing.” Odenkirk actually brought the idea for the film to Kolstad, and the actor worked hard on his fight scenes – and had fun doing them.

“The fist-bloodying fight sequences were as much fun as being in a comedy room,” Odenkirk told EW. “I mean, I’ve never had that much fun since we wrote Mr. Show. It’s a group effort. Anytime you see a fight sequence in a movie that has a bunch of people, as soon as they yell ‘Cut!,’ everyone laughs. There’s all this interaction and group problem-solving that goes on.”

Odenkirk also says the film is “closer to a ’70s action movie — the lone guy walking the streets.” All of this sounds pretty damn great, and I’m dying to see Odenkirk in this sort of role. We could’ve had Nobody this year, but that bastard the coronavirus got in the way. Now, the film is scheduled to arrive February 19, 2021.