Now You Don’t’ Plot Twist, Explained

Justice Smith as Charlie, Ariana Greenblatt as June, Dominic Sessa as Bosco, Jesse Eisenberg as Daniel Atlas, Isla Fisher as Henley Reeves and Dave Franco as Jack Wilder in “Now You See Me: Now You Don’t.”

Katalin Vermes/Lionsgate

Warning: Spoilers ahead for Now You See Me: Now You Don’t.

Now You See Me: Now You Don’t has plenty of tricks up its sleeve, including a major twist involving one of the franchise newcomers.

In the third Now You See Me film, Four Horsemen leader J. Daniel Atlas (Jesse Eisenberg) recruits three young magicians — Bosco (Dominic Sessa), Charlie (Justice Smith) and June (Ariana Greenblatt) — to help him steal a valuable heart-shaped diamond from Veronika Vanderberg (Rosamund Pike), a South African billionaire and heiress who launders money for warlords, arms dealers and traffickers. Horsemen members Merritt McKinney (Woody Harrelson), Jack Wilder (Dave Franco) and Henley Reeves (Isla Fisher) also join the team after receiving tarot cards from the Eye.

It’s believed that the Eye brought all these people together to take down Veronika’s corrupt empire. But really, it was all orchestrated by Charlie. Here’s a breakdown of the film’s surprising plot twist and who Charlie really is.

Charlie Is Revealed To Be Veronika’s Half-Brother

Charlie is initially introduced as an orphan who bounced around foster homes, is knowledgeable about the history of magic, designs magic tricks and prefers to work behind the scenes. He has no family, but Bosco and June are his best friends and he feels a kinship toward them.

Charlie, along with his friends and the Horsemen, including Lula May (Lizzy Caplan), devises a risky plan to bring down Veronika’s worldwide criminal network and expose her true colors.

Throughout the movie, Veronika receives anonymous calls from someone threatening to reveal her secrets to the world, particularly one involving a boy who died 15 years ago. After Veronika captures Merritt, the Horsemen get her attention by announcing that they’re staging a one-night-only show in Abu Dhabi featuring Danny, Jack, Henley and Lula. Veronika agrees to trade Merritt for the diamond, which is in the Horsemens’ possession.

Following the swap, Veronika leads the Horsemen into a trap and meets the anonymous blackmailer in the desert to trade the heart for the evidence about her past. There, it’s revealed that the mysterious person is Charlie, and that he’s Veronika’s half-brother and the product of an affair that her father, Peter Vanderberg, had with his housekeeper. Veronika’s mom later found out about the affair and committed suicide. A week later, Veronika cut the brakes of the housekeeper’s car, not knowing that Charlie would also be in the vehicle. When the car reached the water, Charlie’s mom unbuckled him from his seatbelt, saving him before she died.

Veronika tells Charlie that she was fond of him and that he deserves the diamond. But immediately after handing it to him, Veronika shoots Charlie, but he doesn’t die. Instead, Charlie seemingly pulls off an impossible trick, a bullet-catching illusion.

Charlie Assembled The Horsemen To Get Revenge Against Veronika

After Veronika’s failed attempt to kill Charlie, a curtain is pulled back, revealing that they’re not in the secret vault 70 stories underground in the Arabian desert that stores the diamond. They’re actually on stage at the Horsemen show, in front of a large crowd.

Charlie introduces June, Bosco and the five Horsemen, and explains to the audience that he’s Charlie Vanderberg, the other heir to the fortune. After his mom’s death, vengeance became Charlie’s mission. He, not the Eye, sent tarot cards to the Horsemen to recruit them to help with his scheme to get justice.

Veronika is taken away to face incarceration for her crimes of murder and money laundering, and Charlie vows that, as next of kin, her criminal buyers will face legal repercussions and he’ll give the assets and diamond back to the South African communities that they came from. And the audience will walk away with some money, too. The magicians take a bow, and an updated Horsemen logo appears in the sky, reflecting that the group is no longer comprised of only four people.

The Now You See Me: Now You Don’t ending vaguely sets up a sequel, as the Horsemen receive a message from the Eye leader, Dylan Rhodes (Mark Ruffalo), saying their work is just getting started.

Eisenberg recently told People magazine he wants to make “10 more” Now You See Me movies. Lucky for him — and fans — a fourth movie is reportedly already in the works.

Now You See Me: Now You Don’t is playing in theaters.