As comforting as a hearty bowl of pasta fazool, The Many Saints of Newark finally arrived in theaters and HBO Max on Friday morning and it was well worth the wait. The film, based on the revolutionary, soulful crime saga from creator David Chase and director Alan Taylor fired off all chambers for an explosive prequel that many will no doubt have questions about. If you’ve just finished watching Tony Soprano’s 1960s New Jersey digging deep into some knotty, Soprano-Moltisanti family history, you’ve come to the right place.
Here’s everything you need to know from a breakdown of that ending to whether there’s a mid-credits scene and the possibilities of a spinoff! This goes without saying, but spoilers are ahead. Ready? Bada bing, bada boom — we’re diving in.
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Dickie’s Death
The movie’s ending isn’t particularly complicated. Still, it does raise some questions for fans in the timeline between Richard “Dickie” Moltisanti’s (Alessandro Nivola) death in The Many Saints of Newark to The Sopranos. While fans knew Dickie had died off-camera before the series started in 1999, the prequel sets things up very differently as we now learn that Junior Soprano (Corey Stoll) had him killed over a personal grudge.
Fans will recall in The Sopranos, Tony Soprano (James Gandolfini) told Dickie’s son, Christopher Moltisanti (Michael Imperioli), that retired Detective Lt. Barry Haydu killed his father after a man named “Jilly Ruffalo” ordered the hit. Giving Haydu’s name to Christopher as a way for the two to bond and ease him up the family hierarchy, Christopher confronts the former cop, who denies ever having heard of Dickie and claims someone “obviously” set him up. Despite the claims, Christopher kills Haydu.
Flashback to the prequel and our eyebrows are officially raised. In The Many Saints of Newark, Junior slips and falls all on his own, laying in agony on the steps of the church while his crew gathers around and tries to help. However, while Junior gets the aid he needs, he notices Dickie laughing at him, and it’s this moment that he never forgets. In a later scene, Junior is with his Gomorrah, having difficulty getting intimate, and begins cursing Dickie despite the fall being his own fault. It’s at this moment that Junior puts out a hit on him unbeknownst to the audience.
While carrying TV trays out of his car outside his home, a man approaches Dickie and shoots him in the head. It is unclear who this man is as his face is shadowed and we don’t know his name, leaving the question of Haydu’s involvement unanswered and blurred. Directly after the shooting, Junior is seen hobbling toward a ringing payphone, where he then hears two very ominous mafia words: “It’s done.”
Anthony’s pinky swear
Tony Soprano might have been a hard-hearted mob boss in The Sopranos, but Anthony Soprano (Michael Gandolfini) in The Many Saints of Newark tried his hardest to do right by his uncle, Dickie. But doing “right” is subjective considering Tony’s trajectory from his adolescence to ruthless, mafioso in the series. While Anthony and Dickie were not on talking terms after Uncle Sal Moltisanti (Ray Liotta) advised his nephew to stay away from the teenager after two individuals very close to Dickie had “mysteriously” died, teasing him that “maybe some of the things you do aren’t God’s favorite.”
Dickie accepts the counsel and ignores young Anthony, believing this will be the best for him. After all, Livia Soprano (Very Farmiga) trusted him more than her own brother, Junior, to put common sense into Anthony. Hurt and distraught by his uncle suddenly ghosting him way before ghosting even became a thing, the teenager gets into a bit of an angry fit tossing the speaker boxes Dickie had gifted him out the window of his home.
Flash forward to Dickie’s funeral and Anthony is heartbroken by his death, not knowing his real uncle, Junior was behind the hit. Standing above Dickie’s open casket while at the funeral home as the crew looks on with Junior patting his nephew gently on the back, Anthony observes Dickie’s carefully rested hands. He then gently raises his lifeless pinky with his own, signifying a promise that he vows to not break stemming from an earlier conversation the two had when Anthony was much younger (William Ludwig). Advising the boy to do better after he was caught pulling shenanigans in school and smoking cigarettes, young Anthony promised Dickie after a rather loving lecture, that it wouldn’t happen again.
However, Anthony becomes Tony in The Sopranos, so there is clearly something that triggers him to be a bit more like Dickie who was well on his way to becoming the kingpin mobster in Newark. So, what could have possibly transpired?
Mid-Credits Scene
Yes, there is a mid-credits scene and while it might seem minor at first, it could very well open the door to another “Sopranos Story” — a subtitle marketed alongside The Many Saints of Newark also hinting that creator, David Chase is quite possibly not done yet. In the mid-credits scene, Harold McBrayer (Leslie Odom Jr.) can be seen moving onto the block once dominated by Italian-American families. This tease picks up after Harold goes full badass by breaking away as Dickie’s runner for his numbers operation and begins to muscle in on his business. This further aggravates tensions already amplified by the race riots engulfing the city, but it’s also a welcome awakening for Harold who sees business relations being built.
So, what can we expect next? Will there be another movie? Could we see Harold possibly return creating havoc for the crew after Dickie’s death?
Spinoffs in the works?
While there are no spinoffs officially in the works just yet, there has been major talk of possibly more movies from the actors themselves, positing what could come if there was more of the mafia saga to tell. Talking to PopCulture.com, director Alan Taylor lit up at the discussion, especially revolving around Harold who he believes is most deserving of a spinoff, whether on TV or on the big screen.
“Because of the way David writes, there are several story strands going through it and one of the most important ones, and one of the most challenging ones to get right was Harold’s story, because he doesn’t have as much screen time as Dickie, but his story has to hold its own against Dickie,” Taylor told PopCulture of Leslie Odom Jr.’s role as the first Black gangster in the Sopranos universe. “And thank goodness we got [him] to play [Harold] because he brings this intelligence and this gravitas and this charm so there’s a fully formed person there that you really can follow.”
Reiterating his support for another movie outside The Many Saints of Newark, Taylor responds: “Yeah. He should get his own spinoff. That’s a great idea.” While talking to PopCulture about the movie as well, Odom Jr. admitted he “would love” to tackle that, while Michael Gandolfini said it would add an interesting element to their dynamic following the film’s conclusion.
“Someone did say to me recently, ‘We know where Tony goes, but we don’t know how he gets there.’ and maybe Johnny [Boy Soprano, Tony’s dad] doesn’t want him to be in the mob and maybe Harold starts helping him out, giving him his first couple of jobs. Never know,” Michael said, while Nivola quipped how young Anthony might just “crank numbers for Harold.”
The Many Saints of Newark is now in theaters and will also be available to stream for 30 days on HBO Max. For more on the movie and all your Sopranos news, keep it locked to PopCulture.com for the latest.
