How Is The Hateful Eight Connected to Inglourious Basterds?

Unless you are a movie critic or someone with ties to the industry, chances are you haven’t gotten to seeThe Hateful Eightyet. It doesn’t open until Christmas day, arriving in a limited 100 theaters as part of a70mm Roadshow. It will open wide the following weekend, on December 31. And at that time, we’re sure to become familiar with directorQuentin Tarantino’s colorful cadre of characters played by an all-star cast. But right now, we know little about them. In a recent interview,Tim Rothlet it slip that the movie is actually tied into one of the director’s previous epics.

All of the movies held withinQuentin Tarantino’s movie universe are somehow tied together. This time, we’re getting a crossover between The Hateful Eight and his WWII adventureInglourious Basterds. The Hateful Eight, described as arevenge Western, actually started out as a sequel toDjango Unchained. But now, it will be referred to in some circles as aBasterdsprequel.Tim Rothdescribes the movie as ‘rip-roaring’ and says it offers up more than one nod toReservoir Dogs. But his characterThe Little Manisn’t related to Mr. Orange. His new role asOswaldo Mobrayis actually connected to someone else in the Tarantinoverse. Says the actor.

“He’s connected to one of the characters. I won’t say which one. He’s the great, great grandfather of one of the characters in Inglourious Basterds…”

Without having seen the movie, it might be hard to guess who Mobray is related to. But in The Hateful Eight, true toQuentin Tarantino’s signature style, all of the characters get nicknames. And As we mentioned, Oswaldo’s nickname is ‘The Little Man’. This is also the nickname of one of theInglourious Basterds. And it seems like the connection is pretty obvious.

It sounds like Oswaldo Mobray is actually the great, great grandfather ofB.J. Novak’s character. In the WWII epic, he plays PFC Smithson Utivich, an infamous Nazi-killer. While this pair share a nickname, Utivich is quite resentful of his. Some speculate its because he just could never escape the shadow of his great great grandpa. The Hateful Eight takes place inWyoming. Despite Mobray’s British heritage, it makes sense geographically that the pair are related.

We’re not sure if or whenQuentin Tarantinowill clarify this connection, or if the answer lies within one of the two movies itself. We won’t be able to make a judgement based on our own viewing for quite some time. While we await the arrival of The Hateful Eight on Christmas day, we can ponder some of the other character connections inQuentin Tarantino’s movies. If you want to read up on this shared universe,click here.