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The potato chip line will be included
And it'll be just as hammy as the original.
  • Jossed. There is no potato chip scene.

Light's mother will be dead in this version
Noticing she's not in the cast list, she'll most likely be dead. And given the grittier approach that's being taken, her death will be of a violent and possibly sexual nature.
  • Confirmed. In fact, the person that killed Light's mother is the first actual criminal Light kills.
Sayu will be Adapted Out
Light isn't mentioned to have a sister so far in the cast or in promotional material.
  • Confirmed
Light will not only be a misogynistic asshole...
But also a racist... Politically Incorrect Villain and all that.

The misogyny seems unlikely, given that he's seen heroically rescuing Mia from a bunch of random guys in the trailer. And him being a racist would instantly flag him as a Villain Protagonist to the audience, while Light's fall from grace is far more gradual in the original series. But then again, they don't precisely seem to be going for subtlety here, so it's possible.

  • Jossed. Light is far more PC and heroic than his counterparts.
Ryuk will undergo Adaptational Villainy (again)
He is played by Willem Dafoe, after all. Perhaps he'll act as The Corrupter for Light, like in the TV drama.
  • He seems to be goading Light into using the Death Note for his first kill, by using Light's own reasoning that he just dreaming and that nothing will happen.
    • Confirmed. He plays both sides, but is ultimately evil in this version.
the scenes in which Light is running from the police and the Ferris wheel scene will both be nightmares

The Ferris wheel seems to be...melting in a way? it screams "nightmare" to me, like Light's normal life is falling apart on him and he is now running from the law. (not to mention it could be good foreshadowing for when Light literally runs from the law after being shot full of holes by ..whatever Matsuda's American name will be ...Terry Matthews maybe? Touta Matsuda....

  • Jossed. The scene with the ferris wheel is no dream or nightmare at all. And unless I'm mistaken after watching the movie, Matsuda has been adapted out.

Masi Oka is playing Matsuda
He's an actor that's often typecast as Adorkable oafs, much like Matsuda.
  • Jossed. Instead, he has a cameo as Detective Sasaki during scenes set in Tokyo.

Rem will have a cameo at the end.
In a post-credits scene, perhaps? Light will die and Mia will find a new Death Note, which in turn, will introduce her to Rem. The film will end on a Sequel Hook/Here We Go Again! as Mia plans to continue her boyfriend's work.
  • Jossed. There's no end credit scene and Mia never even gets her own Death Note, let alone Rem being in the film at all. Ryuk is the sole Shinigami in this movie.
Light will lose to L.
Possibly with L sacrificing himself in the process, as in one of the Japanese live-action movies, considering no successors are listed in the casting, and the movie seems pretty self-contained. Further supported by the fact that in the trailer, 'Light' says 'they're not the good guys anymore', while the actual Light never wavered in his belief that he was cleansing the world of evil for a single second. If the Villain Protagonist turns around and remarks on his status of being a villain, his likelihood of losing increases exponentially—at least in a film made for American audiences.
  • Jossed. The film essentially ends in a stalemate as a blatant Sequel Hook.

Aaron Peltz is this movie's version of Aizawa
It'd make sense since next to Yagami and Matsuda, he was the most prominent officer of the Kira Task Force.
  • Jossed. Instead, he's a child molester who Light uses to retrieve the Death Note, also having him kill a few criminals, then kills him.

Light will sacrifice Mia to earn L's trust
Taking a hint from the 2006 movie. The big indicator is that Rem seems to have been Adapted Out. This will lead to a sequel adapting the Yotsuba Arc.
  • Sort of confirmed, sort of jossed. Light does indeed kill Mia, but she attempts to kill him first. The event on the Ferris wheel ends with Mia dying and Light going into a coma. Light never earns L's trust.
If L dies in this movie, Mello and Near will appear in The Stinger
Let's be honest. In all of the live-action adaptations, Mello always got screwed over. I think it's high-time he had a proper appearance.
  • Jossed. However, Watari's visit to this film's version of Wammy House all but acknowledges that they exist. It's incredibly likely they'll appear in the sequel.

Matt will also be in The Stinger
Adding to WMG above is that along with Mello, Matt too has never been featured in any of the live-action adaptations. The film will put him there so he doesn't just come out of nowhere like he did in the original series.
  • Jossed, though it's acknowledged that the orphans exist.

the "L" we see is in fact Mello
The black clothing, bad temper, better looks and such, all point to Mello...he might be the "face" of the real L or is trying to prove himself.

L will have an Adaptation Name Change
He'll be called something like Lonnie Lenwood. Or if he turns out to be a Composite Character with Mello or Near, he'll be called Mihael Keehl or Nate River.

Someone will mistake the name L for the name Elle
The name Elle can be pronounced like the letter L. Someone who knows nothing about L will hear his name come up, but the lack of context will lead him or her to assume that they're talking about a woman named Elle.

The L in this movie is a succesor
The name L, while also being the real name of our favorite detective is also the title given to someone who takes over that position. When L died, Light took over the position of L, and later did Near.It is very possible that the L in this movie isn't supposed to represent the original, or anyone in the manga/anime, but is just a successor.

L will write Light's name down....then becomes consumed himself by the death note and starts doing the same thing Light did, killing criminals.

L in the movie is MUCH more emotional than the anime/manga L,and does things that the original L would NEVER EVER do, would not be surprised if they went that route.

Mia is an original character not the American version of Misa
Mia's character, personality, and function were by far the most different than any of the characters with a counterpart. Since the first film ended with a sequel hook, Misa can appear as a separate character. This allows things like Shinigami Eyes and Rem to appear in the sequel.

Light Turner isn't an alternate Light Yagami
Instead, he's someone Ryuk explicitly chose due to being similar to this version's Light Yagami. The fact it is clearly established there's been multiple users and that Ryuk conveniently had a pen makes it likely he actively looks for potential users. Thus, searching for someone with a similar personality to one of his most entertaining 'partners' makes sense for an eternally bored Shinigami.

The film can be part of an unofficial Shared Universe with other movies and TV shows.
This is really just an engine to make joke theories. Any troper can post whatever they like below.
  • Movies:
    • The Room (2003): The strange decisions and actions of the characters were due to the manipulations of a Death Note user. This user was a person who was jealous of Johnny's successful job at the bank. The last thing written was "Johnny acts ridiculous after finding out Lisa's cheating on him, then commits suicide."
    • North: Ryuk considered North as a possible user, but decided against it when he realized the kid was colossally prejudiced. This obviously isn't because Ryuk has standards, but because he prefers gruesome individual deaths, and North would just waste time attempting to wipe out entire countries at once, which he couldn't properly accomplish with the Death Note due to its rules.
    • Southland Tales: Starla had her name written in the Death Note, with a few "else if" conditions like the ones you'd see in most languages of programming. If Justin Timberlake's character was present when Starla attempted to kill herself if the Rock's character refused to have sex with her, he would blow her brains out (like what happens in the film proper); if the Rock didn't show up, or refused, Starla would kill herself as normal; and if the Rock accepted, but Timberlake's character was nowhere near the scene, Starla would put the gun down, but it would go off on accident, blowing her brains out.
  • TV Series:
    • American Horror Story: a notebook that kills people would fit right in with the themes and tone of the series.
    • Sherlock: just because of how awesome a Sherlock/L teamup would be.
    • Riverdale: L and Jughead would like each other's fashion sense. Plus, both involve murder mysteries.
      • The masked man who shot Fred in the Season 2 finale was just a pawn being manipulated by a notebook user.

L killed Light in the end with the Death Note page
It's left ambiguous in the film, but I believe this is the end result due to Ryuk's hysterical laughter. It's implied Ryuk is the one to perform the killings written in the Death Note, or he's at least aware of when names are put down as he's always heard laughing at someone's death(the first two killings for example). Ryuk sensed that L wrote Light's name on the torn page of the Death Note which is why he was laughing so hard.

L had a split personality.

Since NO ONE could escape mental trauma from going through what he did to "prepare" him to become L..and it would explain his mood swings ....the other personality took all the way over without Watari to keep it in check.

The movie isn't a retelling of the same story - it's a new one altogether that takes place a few decades after the original.

Basically, Ryuk is bored again and goes to America this time (which is why the name/race changes happen). He manages to find a kid named Light and decides, "Hey, let's see if my nostalgia makes this weirdo a good choice," and drops the notebook. Wammy's is no longer a thing, being an old, dilapidated building during the film while in the anime/manga it was at least fairly active (Roger actually had to take over from Watari). Due to this, the current film!L was never there. He IS a successor, however, though whether the bad choice in choosing him was Near's or another L's is up for debate. The bad choice is why he's a mentally unstable black ninja. Said ninja knows something to the effect of "Watari takes care of L" so he found/hired someone to fill that role for him, which is why film!Watari is Asian instead of white. The reason film!L is so much less effective? Not even Near was able to fill the first L's shoes - why would anyone else be able to?

It can be argued that if this is all true, then there would be some mention of a similar situation in the past, but...two rebuttals: 1. The situations aren't all that similar to the public, being that film!Light rarely uses heart attacks and his signature is his victims screaming about Kira; 2. Even if they were more similar, the public never new about the Death Note while we do, so it would be nigh impossible to make that connection without that kind of knowledge.


Titles for the possible sequel:
  • Death Note: Page Two
  • Death Note: Part Two
  • Death Note: The New World
  • Death Note 2

Death Note 2 will be based on the Near story of the Death Note anime

If the above theory is right, Near will be played by
  • Finn Wolfhard
  • Dylan O'Brien as an older Near
  • Zenyada
    • Jesus christ...
  • Millie Bobby Brown as a gender-flipped Near
  • Tom Holland

Casting choices for Mello
  • KJ Apa
  • Zac Effron
  • Tom Felton
  • Will Pouter
  • Alex Wolff
  • Rami Malek

The "no apples" scene from the TV drama will be referenced
  • And it will be just as hammy.

Jump-Force will be referenced

At one point, Mia was the protagonist

  • This version of Light was added to the final product later. Evidence:
    • Mia is the first character established on screen, being introduced even before Light.
    • Personality-wise, she has much more in common with the Light of the anime, being ruthless and willing to kill anyone who dares to stand in her way (she even emulates Light's "kill the FBI agents" plot from the manga and anime).
    • Her talk about being dissatisfied with her life and wanting to do something more than just be a high school cheerleader sounds a bit like the seeds of a character arc that was eventually scrapped.

The movie is a metaphor for American Foreign Policy
  • Just as the original manga is a scathing condemnation of the Japanese justice system, the American version seems to be a takedown of the nation's "world police" attitude.
    • Light is a Type-1 Eagle Land, the representation of an idealized WWII American world cop — he only wants to go after "bad guys" who make life harder for regular people.
    • Mia is a Type-2, the representation of the unapologetic Post-9/11 Jerkass world cop who kills anyone she deems as evil, without a trial or proper justification ... and damn anyone else gets in her way.
    • Finally, Ryuk is the impulse to act personified; he's a tempting figure who represents the means and the will to intervene where he shouldn't. Interestingly, he doesn't necessarily signify a strictly American idea, showing that interventionism is a more worldly problem that's not exclusive to any one nation.
      • The trio illustrates how the ideal of being the white-hat beacon of hope for the world can easily shift into a self-justifying delusion, egged on by the devil on your shoulder.

Casting choices for Sidoh, should he appear in a sequel
  • Jim Carrey
  • Josh Gad
  • Jonah Hill
  • Bill Hader
  • Toby Jones
  • Dee Bradley Baker
  • Simon Pegg
  • Nick Frost
  • Tyler Perry
  • Bradley Cooper
  • Zach Galifianakis
  • Ed Helms
  • Ken Jeong

L is a copycat … a copycat that Near will expose and take his place as the Hero Antagonist for the sequel.

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