Poker Face has been canceled, but creator Rian Johnson hopes to continue in a strange way

All Rian Johnson wants to do is create the most complex murder mystery stories and chew bubblegum…and he’s out of bubblegum. Although best known to your mouth-breathing uncle as the guy who “ruined Star Wars” with “The Last Jedi,” the famed writer/director has been busy building his “Knives Out” trilogy to the big screen with the upcoming “Wake Up Dead Man” (well, whenever Netflix deigns to allow it, at least) and, more recently, his “Poker Face” streaming empire with Peacock. Well, its returning thriller series has suddenly hit a problem, according to a new report, but fear not! Johnson may have one of the wackiest ideas for keeping the killer good times going.

Here’s some really crazy news to liven up your week. Although its second season was acclaimed by all kinds of critics (including yours, as you can see in my review), Peacock decided to abruptly cancel “Poker Face” for good. That’s according to Deadline, which reports that the streamer has chosen not to renew the series, despite receiving enough views to become the most-watched show on the entire platform. What’s worse is apparently the end of the series for star Natasha Lyonne, who played the lead truth-finding detective Charlie Cale and earned rave reviews with her wry humor and cheerful personality. But, not to be deterred, Johnson and his longtime producing partner, Ram Bergman, concocted a plan to shop “Poker Face” for another two-season deal. The twist? Peter Dinklage is on board to succeed Lyonne. Not as a brand new protagonist, mind you, but as a recast Charlie Cale.

Confused? We are too. Let’s try to make sense of this together.

Honestly, this could be the plot of one of the crazier episodes of “Poker Face” or a fictional show in the movie taking place in the background of “Knives Out.” So, to put it as simply as possible: Peacock is parting ways with the popular series due to, as Deadline describes it, high costs and a slight drop in viewership compared to Season 1. Naturally, Rian Johnson isn’t giving up without trying to get any other platform to bite, as he’s now courting other broadcasters to pick up the series for two more seasons. But, despite the issue that Natasha Lyonne will no longer be attached as a star (she remains involved as an executive producer), Johnson is still moving forward with Peter Dinklage on board to reprise what appears to be the exact same role from Charlie Cale.

Johnson and Lyonne said this in a joint statement:

“We’ve been germinating this next move together since writing the Season 2 finale. We love our ‘Poker Face,’ and it’s the perfect way to continue. Give us a beat, and maybe we’ll see Charlie Cale again on that open highway.”

Wild, huh? In another out-of-left-field turn, the Deadline report offers the following comment: “Johnson’s hope is that the franchise evolves with a new actor to play the title character every two years.” So if “Poker Face” continues, we can expect a revolving door of sorts when it comes to our main protagonist. But how, exactly, would Dinklage (or whoever comes after him) step in to play human lie detector Charlie Cale? We also have some guesses on this.

You have questions and we have, uh, our best guess as to what’s going on here. If you recall, Season 2 of “Poker Face” ended in dramatic fashion when Charlie Cale managed to narrowly escape death at the hands of newly revealed villain Alex (Patti Harrison), the unassuming sidekick who turned out to be a deadly assassin determined to eliminate Charlie at all costs. The somewhat “Thelma & Louise” ending of the season 2 finale saw Alex attempt to chase them both off a cliff, only for Charlie to escape by the skin of his teeth and send Alex hurtling over the edge (although, of course, no one recovered a body). Now on the run from the FBI, Charlie heads off to parts unknown.

So how does Peter Dinklage’s revamp fit into things? The Deadline report strongly implies that this isn’t it a case where a new character simply assumes Charlie’s identity or some sort of “Face/Off” type deal where Natasha Lyonne’s version somehow lives on as Dinklage (as weirdly cool as that is). Knowing Rian Johnson’s narrative tendencies and sense of humor, there’s a good chance he’ll just rehash the story in the style of James Bond or “Doctor Who” with Dinklage as Charlie Cale, lie detection superpowers and all, without ever drawing attention to it. As strange as it may seem, shows from “Bewitched” to “The Crown” to the ratings-struggling “The Witcher” have all done similar things before. The only downside is, well, the story of a woman going through all the casual accidents and trauma she’s had and suddenly being taken care of by a man (as talented as Dinklage is) can’t help but feel…unsure.

Stay tuned!