Billed as a standalone sequel,Twistersis set in the same universe as the 1996 blockbusterTwister, and the film features plenty of Easter eggs and references to the original franchise installment. Even though a cheapHelen Hunt cameo inTwistersisn’t one of the many nods to the original film,director Lee Isaac Chung finds clever ways to pay homage to the iconic disaster movie. InTwister, Hunt plays Jo, a storm chaser who had a traumatic experience with a tornado as a child and, as a result, dedicates herself to studying the brutal (and terrifyingly random) storms.
Like its predecessor,Twisters' cast of characters is largely made up of storm chasers, including jaded meteorologist Kate Cooper (Daisy Edgar-Jones) and thrill-seeking, social media-famous storm chaser Tyler Owens (Glenn Powell). Instead of trying to deploy a tornado research device like Jo, Bill (Bill Paxton), and the rest ofTwister’s storm chasers,the standalone sequel’s group attempts to reduce tornadoes' intensityby launching a sodium polyacrylate solution — aka waterlock — into the storms. Regardless of whetherTwisterorTwistersis the better tornado movie, it’s fun to see the connections between the two films.
12Kate’s Clothes In Twisters
Kate Dresses Almost Identical To Jo
Looking atDaisy Edgar-Jones starring inTwistersas Kate Carteris almost a time capsule that brings back memories of Helen Hunt’s Jo Harding. The biggest reason, other than their relationship to tornadoes, is that they dress so much alike. This was clearly a case where the director and costume designer (Eunice Jera Lee) forTwistersensured that the stylistic choices made were similar enough to Joto make people realize that the two characters matched up at least physically.
Tyler Owens’ Backstory In Twisters Has A Wild Link To Glen Powell’s Real Childhood
Tyler eventually shares more about his past in Twisters during a key scene, which stemmed from Glen Powell’s own experience with tornadoes.
The tank tops and khaki pants that Jo wore in the first movie are back, and Edgar-Jones is wearing them here. This also wasn’t the only Easter egg and callback toTwister. Also, in the film, Kate wore an oversized baseball jersey, which was the same style of jersey worn by a young boy in the final scene ofTwister. “And because Kate is blonde, I thought it would be interesting, as an Easter egg, to tie these characters together,” Lee said (viaEW). “It’s the same style jersey, with a slightly tweaked graphic.”
11Naked Running During A Tornado
This Is A Call-Back To Bill’s Story
There was a story inTwistersthat had the same basic punchline as one told in the first film. InTwister, Bill Harding comes into town with his girlfriend Melissa Reeves (Jami Gertz), a woman who knew nothing about the tornados and ends up over her head. While she was getting to know Jo’s storm team, Dusty shared a story with her about Bill while eating at Aunt Meg’s.It turns out that they first met Bill when he was “butt naked” near a tornado they were chasing.
Bill corrects them and says he was “half-naked.” InTwisters, the movie repeated the joke, this time it was about Kate. Once again, while eating at Kate’s home, her mother told Tyler (Glen Powell) a story about how Kate was so excited to see a tornado when she was a little girl that she ran outside naked so she wouldn’t miss it. Both cases had someone trying to embarrass someone else (Kate and Bill), and both stories had the same basic gag as their basis.
10Homage To Dusty’s Clothes In Twister
Lots Of Tie-Dye & Over-Sized Shirts
Twisterspaid homage to the late Bill Paxton by having his son appear in a cameo. And the sequel also paid homage to the late Philip Seymour Hoffman. Hoffman played Dusty, a member of Jo’s storm-chasing team, in the first film. While there were lots of colorful characters on that team,Hoffman stood out thanks to his incredible acting and his appearance in mostly tie-die shirts, flowery prints, and oversized clothing. He was impossible to forget.
InTwisters, Tyler’s team of “storm wranglers” (Brandon Perea, Sasha Lane, Tunde Adebimpe, and Katy O’Brian) were dressed to pay homage to Hoffman’s memory. “Perhaps the most explicit of those homages are on Boone, Tyler’s right-hand man and hype beast, played by Brandon Perea, who rocks some tie-dye," Lee said. “On Lily, played by Sasha Lane, the group’s free-spirited drone flyer, whose pants have swatches of floral fabric, all nods to Dusty’s wardrobe prints.”
9The Red Trucks In Twister & Twisters
Both Movies Feature Red Trucks Racing To The Tornado
When Bill Harding is racing out to the tornado with his version of Dorothy in his truck, it is an iconic scene with the red pickup tearing through the field, while the storm almost leaves the background a gray shade.The idea of making his truck red was likely a stylistic decisionto make it stand out in the scene, especially since one of the movie’s most famous shots is of the truck from a distance.
It is also likely thatTwisterschose to repeat the truck’s color for Glen Powell’s Tyler Owens for the same reason—it really helps the truck stand out in the massive wide shot with the storm in the background. However, it was also almost assuredly done as an Easter egg, since the two shots from a distance were framed almost identically, and the red truck in the new movie brought back strong memories of the red truck from the firstTwister.
8Twisters Features Dorothy V
The Device References Jo & Bill’s Dorothy In Twister
InTwister, a tornado-obsessed Jo leads a team of storm chasers in Oklahoma when her estranged husband, meteorologist Bill Harding, shows up to get her signature on some divorce papers. Instead of dealing with their impending divorce,Jo shows Bill “Dorothy,” a device that contains hundreds of small weather sensors— sensors that Bill conceptualized. Theoretically, Dorothy could revolutionize Jo’s field and save lives by potentially allowing for earlier storm-warning alerts. After the first three Dorothy devices fail,Twisterends with Dorothy IV successfully deploying its sensors.
Even though none of Dorothy’s creators are name-checked, it’s still a fun nod.
According toTwisters, another Dorothy came to fruition at some point, asKate’s team inTwistershas a Dorothy Vdevice. Although Kate is intent on taming tornadoes, her former colleague Javi (Anthony Ramos) is interested in collecting more data on the storms, much like Jo and Bill. It makes sense thatthe Dorothy capsule has become a mainstay in theTwisteruniverse’s field of tornado research. Even though none of Dorothy’s creators are name-checked, it’s still a fun nod.
7James Paxton Has A Cameo In Twisters
The Late Bill Paxton’s Son Appears As A Nod To His Dad
One of the leads in the originalTwister, the late Bill Paxton played Bill Harding, Jo’s estranged husband. At the beginning of the film, Bill is introduced as a more down-to-earth meteorologist — a stark contrast to Jo’s wild-card nature. Even though Bill shows up with his soon-to-be-wife, Dr. Melissa Reeves (Jamie Gertz), Bill and Jo share an incredibly strong bond that’s built on their love of storms.
Twisters Review: This Unnecessary Twister Sequel Actually Impressed Me
Led by the perfect chemistry between Daisy Edgar-Jones and Glen Powell, Twisters provides ample thrills, solid characters, and great technical work.
AlthoughTwistersonly features one originalTwisteractor, Paxton’s son,James Paxton, has aTwisterscameo. “I did this one for Dad,” Paxton toldEW. “I wanted to be a conduit for his spirit there and cheer everyone in this production on to success because I know he would be. I wanted to do something that really honors his presence in this new chapter and really do something for him.”
6Kate Says “I’m Not Back” — One Of Twister’s Most Memorable Lines
Daisy Edgar-Jones' Character Echoes Bill’s Sentiment In The First Movie
InTwister, Bill shows up to get Jo to sign their divorce papers. However, her team of stormchasers keeps excitedly exclaiming that Bill is back — meaning he’s returned to join their storm-chasing efforts. Throughout the scenes,Bill says again and again that he’s, in fact, “not back” to help with the Dorothy capsule. Of course, he does wind up sticking around.
Similarly,Twisters' Kate also claims she’s “not back” upon returning to the storm-chasing field. Characters in both films also tell anecdotes about Bill and Kate running outside, completely naked (or, in Bill’s case, “half-naked”) to greet a storm, cementing Kate’s place asTwisters' Bill replacement character. It was a nice call-back and the quote early on in the film sets her up in the role.
5Storm Par’s Codenames Reference The Wizard Of Oz
The Dorothy Joke Is Taken A Step Further
In addition to the Dorothy device,Twistersfeatures a few other funWizard of Oznods as an ode to the 1939 movie’s twister-centric plot. At one point, Javi uses code names for his storm-chaser team thatreference severalWizard of Ozcharacters, including Scarecrow, Lion, Tin Man, and Wizard.
Given that the Dorothy capsule is based on a real-life instrument called TOTO (Totable Tornado Observatory), which gets its name from Toto the dog inThe Wizard of Oz, the continued references to the L. Frank Baum story. WithThe Wizard of Ozthe most famous early movie to feature a tornado and its damage, it makes sense that the sequel would also pay homage to the classic movie, its characters, and names from the film.
4A Movie Theater Is Destroyed In Twisters
This Moment Directly References Twister’s Iconic Drive-In Theater Scene
One of themost iconic scenes inTwistertakes place at a drive-in theater. While the ending of Stanley Kubrick’sThe Shiningplays out on the screen, a tornado bears down on the movie-going audience, forcing Jo, Bill, and the rest of the storm team to seek cover. At one point,the storm even tears through the movie screen. It was a hugely iconic moment, and even theJurassic Worldfranchise paid homage to this scene.
What Javi’s Storm Par Company Was Really Up To In Twisters
In the 2024 movie, Twisters, Javi was in charge of Storm Par, a company that detected tornadoes, but what was the company really up to?
Chung’s film pays homage to this memorable moment inTwisters’ending, which features a tornado that rips through an indoor cinema that’s playingFrankenstein. In both cases, the films playing are horror movies, and in the indoor theater, it is an even older, classic horror film of a rampaging monster, paralleling the rampaging tornado that is sweeping through the town.
3Muskogee State University Rides Again
Many Of The Twister Films Characters Have Ties To The School
In the opening ofTwisters, young storm chasers Kate, Javi, Jeb (Daryl McCormack), Addy (Kiernan Shipka), and Praveen (Nik Dodani) are all Muskogee State University students. While thatmight seem like a completely throwaway fictional alma mater, it actually holds a lot of resonancefor theTwistercinematic universe. One of Jo’s storm-chasing teammates, Laurence (Jeremy Davies), wears a shirt that reads, “Muskogee State University.”
The team’s vehicles are also plastered with stickers boasting the school’s name. Clearly, it’s the university of choice for wannabe storm-chasing researchers. Of course, in the originalTwistermovie, Muskogee State University was the one Jo and Bill had an association with and was likely where the weather research program was located, which explains why it is still an important part of the story in the sequel.
