Wait... There Were Actually Vampires in 'Marty Supreme'?

It feels like every day I open up my laptop, I learn something new about Marty Surpreme that makes my head explode. First, it was the Robert Pattinson cameo, and now, there were almost vampires in the movie? Like actual ones?

Josh Safdie’s movie is already the talk of the town as it hits many top 10 lists and is doing the awards rounds.

On a recent episode of the A24 Podcast, Safdie sat down with Anora director Sean Baker and revealed a scrapped ending that involved "Mr. Wonderful" himself, Kevin O’Leary, and a literal bloodbath. Plus vampires.

Let's dive in.

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The Ending That Almost Was Vampiric

So, if you need a refresher on Marty Supreme, head over to our ending explained, where we delved into the themes and story.

Quick refresher: The film follows the life of Marty Reisman (Chalamet), a ping-pong champion whose career spanned decades. While the movie is largely set in the 1950s, Safdie revealed that he originally planned a flash-forward to the 1980s.

In this deleted finale, an elderly Marty (Chalamet in full prosthetic "old age" makeup) attends a concert with his granddaughter. As the camera focuses on Marty’s eyes, a figure emerges from the shadows behind him. That figure? It's Kevin O’Leary.

But he wasn't playing a business mogul or a ping-pong enthusiast. He was playing a vampire.

As Safdie told Baker:

“You’re on his eyes, we built the prosthetic for Timmy and everything, and Mr. Wonderful shows up behind him and takes a bite out of his neck, and that was the last thing in the movie.”

Why the Vampire Twist?

While it sounds completely disconnected from a movie about table tennis, Safdie explained that the ending was intended as a stylistic homage to 80s vampire cult classics like Tony Scott’s The Hunger or Joel Schumacher’s The Lost Boys.

And look, we got hints of it when O'Leary says his vampire line now, which is him talking about how powerful and influential he is metaphorically, but now it feels like a line that was almost paid off.

Despite the film being a period piece, Safdie has been vocal about his desire to weave in elements of the '80s, like the music and "vibes," to play with the audience's sense of time and genre.

Vampires kind of fit into that...so why did they get rid of them?

Stake to the Heart

Josh Safdie was fully committed to the vampire bit, and they went as far as building the prosthetics for Chalamet’s elderly look.

But they ultimately decided to move in a different direction and stick with a more conventional story. He felt a literal vampire transition might have been a bridge too far, even for his brand of surrealism.

Also, I think about Sinners and its ending, where we have vampires in the 90s showing up, and it would have been kind of weird to have two epilogues that were that similar.

Summing It All Up

The revelation gives us a peek into Josh Safdie’s solo directorial brain. Even without the vampire bite, Marty Supreme was a legendary movie that was a ton of fun and will see some action this awards season.

Let me know what you think about the vampires in the comments.