Trap is a sequel to Glass

As a big fan of M. Night's movies, I couldn't help but notice a few similarities between his new film Trap and the "super hero" trilogy of East Rail 177. The first thing that struck a cord with me was the setting, it is set inside a stadium that is hosting a music concert, this location looks eerily familiar to that of the football stadium seen in Unbreakable. In Trap; our main protagonist (or antagonist as he is secretly a serial killer) named Cooper is with his daughter, he soon comes to the realisation that the security here are on the lookout for him, as an anonymous caller tipped them onto who he really is. Cooper must try to escape without getting caught and that is essentially the main plot. Now if you've seen Unbreakable, you'd know the film's protagonist is David Dunn, a man who can see what crimes someone has committed by merely touching them. At first I genuinely thought that David was the one who knew about Cooper, as he also worked as a security guard at the football stadium from Unbreakable, he often bumped into shady individuals which was how he found most of the criminals in the movie (that he would track down and punish, much like a comic book vigilante). The plot twist reveals that it wasn't David Dunn who made the anonymous tip however (because David is dead after Glass, but I thought Trap might've been set in the past). Before you discard my theory though, there are more similarities to Split and Glass; for example, M. Night has a cameo in this movie, playing the role of a security guard at the stadium. In Split, M. Night played the role of a security man who looked over surveillance footage, then in Glass he bumps into David Dunn (who he also met in Unbreakable) buying a new set of security cameras. It might be a stretch to say the same character eventually got a new job at the same Stadium seen in Trap, but this was another possible connection I found. When examining the character of Cooper, he has similar traits to that of Kevin and Elijah (AKA The Beast and Mr Glass). His murderous tendencies tend to stem from childhood trauma, it is suggested that his parental figures may have mistreated him, as he seems to almost mentally regress, whenever a stern female speaks down to him. This is very similar to how Kevin created "The Horde" personalities in Split, as a way of protecting himself from his abusive mother who always screamed "Kevin Wendell Crumb" whenever he misbehaved according to her strict rules. Later in life, saying Kevin's full name, dissolves his more menacing personalities such as Dennis, Patricia and "The Beast", showing us how vulnerable and scared the real Kevin actually is beneath his tougher personas. Not only that, but Cooper is extremely intelligent, hiding the fact he is a serial killer, not just from the general public, but his whole family too! He is revealed to be a very manipulative and egotistical maniac, one that will go to extraordinary lengths to achieve his sick goals. This is very similar to Elijah, as he takes on the villain persona of Mr Glass, hiding the fact he has been committing several terrorist attacks throughout the years (searching for a real life super powered human who can survive them), acting as an innocent comic shop owner, only getting caught by David in the end of Unbreakable, because Elijah wants him to know what he did. Cooper isn't as intelligent as Elijah, but is still far smarter than Kevin (in my opinion) further proving my point that Cooper is a cross between both villains from the East Rail 177 trilogy. My most crucial evidence to support my theory is that at the end of Trap, Cooper is surrounded by several heavy armed police officers. Cooper also removed his shirt to intimidate his wife (for reasons I won't spoil) showing off how muscular he is. Kevin also did this when he transformed into "The Beast" he would remove his shirt to reveal how huge and muscular this transformation had made him. I believe he does this in Split and Glass not for intimidation like Cooper, but to symbolise that Kevin becomes more feral and animalistic in this state, revealing his inner monster. Either way both killers (yes Kevin is also a serial killer like Copper!) only do this when they are ready to commit murder. When the police attack Cooper, he is actually strong enough to withstand getting tasered twice and he even knocks down a fully armoured police officer in riot gear and a shield, all the while; screaming and acting like a feral animal, exactly like Kevin from Split. One more thing I noticed, is that the other three films in this trilogy were all one word titles, "Unbreakable, Split, Glass" perhaps "Trap" refers to Cooper's powers of manipulation, trapping people into deadly scenarios (as he traps the singer in his bathroom and then later, her own limo) and the fact he may have felt trapped as a child, growing up in an abusive household.

M. Night has a mixed reputation for making good and bad movies, many fans claim Unbreakable and Split are great films, yet Glass is a massive disappointment. His other less successful films like After Earth, Lady in The Water and The Happening, unfortunately prove he can drop the ball from time to time. So with that said, it could entirely be possible that he perhaps got a little lazy when writing Trap and reused character traits from his previous villains seen in the East Rail 177 trilogy. However, I personally believe all of these coincidences are intentional. That the biggest plot twist in Trap was never even revealed! That being, Trap was secretly the fourth entry in his East Rail 177 superhero saga.