(Warning: This post contains spoilers for Netflix’s “The Knight Before Christmas.”)
Netflix launched its latest original Christmas movie, “The Knight Before Christmas” on Thursday, one of six it has set to roll out this holiday season. This film, starring Vanessa Hudgens and Josh Whitehouse, is connected to those others — and the streaming services season flicks from previous years — with little shout-outs.
Eagle-eyed viewers probably noticed that Sir Cole (Whitehouse) is seen watching “Holiday in the Wild” — one of Netflix’s 2019 offerings, starring Kristin Davis and Rob Lowe — and Brooke’s (Vanessa Hudgens) parents brought her a Christmas ornament from Aldovia — the fictional country where the “A Christmas Prince” franchise takes place — when she was a child.
Hudgens says these Easter eggs are what brings “The Knight Before Christmas” into the Netflix Holiday Movie Universe (we’re dubbing it the NHWU right now).
“It’s just kind of fun, I feel like, to create an entire new universe where everything is interconnected,” Hudgens told TheWrap. “I think they’re just like fun little nuggets for the audiences to pick up if they’re fans of the genre.”
Whitehouse admitted that he did not know about these connections, but said it would make for an interesting problem for Hudgens, given that she stars in “The Princess Switch” and its upcoming sequel “The Princess Switch: Switched Again.”
“I didn’t really even know that they did interlink! But I guess that’d be kinda crazy if Vanessa from ‘The Princess Switch’ were to bump into Brooke one day–”
“Yes!” Hudgens jumped in.
“That’s your next spinoff! 2021 here we come!” Whitehouse added.
Directed by Monika Mitchell, “The Knight Before Christmas” follows Sir Cole, a medieval English knight who is magically transported to the present day, where he falls for Brooke, a high school science teacher who is disillusioned by love. By the end of the movie, Cole has fulfilled his destiny to become a “true knight” by admitting his love for Brooke before returning to his time — and then back to her in the present day.
“I think that’s what so special about our movie though, is like, normally it would be the girl going back with the guy,” Hudgens said. “But in our film, the guy chooses to come back to the girl and that’s really sweet.”
“I actually started drafting an idea of what would happen with them going back to Cole’s time for a potential sequel,” Whitehouse said. “My brother is a writer and he was working on a concept for a bit, but I think it will probably go in a different direction.”
So what do they think is in store for Cole and Brooke if there is a sequel?
“Maybe he’s a cop, maybe a baker,” Whitehouse said. “He’s got options!” Hudgens added.
He did bake very good bread.
“The Knight Before Christmas” is streaming now on Netflix.