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When Kevin and Matthew McManus conceived of Redux Redux<\/em>, a lean and mean revenge thriller about a grieving mother named Irene (Michaela McManus) who travels infinite parallel universes to seek revenge against the killer of her daughter, the multiverse was barely a glimmer in Marvel Studios\u2019 eye. Everything Everywhere All at Once<\/a><\/em> was still six years away from winning Best Picture at the Oscars, and general audiences couldn\u2019t even conceive of \u201cmultiverse fatigue<\/a>.\u201d <\/p>\n It was a decade ago when the sibling directing duo, best known for their work on Netflix shows Cobra Kai<\/em> and American Vandal<\/em>, first began working on Redux Redux<\/em>. And in the years since, the multiverse has gone from novel idea to next great thing in Hollywood to tired gimmick. \u201cWe rode that whole thing,\u201d Matthew McManus tells Inverse.<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cWhen we were first coming up with this idea 10 years ago, there [weren\u2019t] that many parallel universe movies and shows out there, and so it felt like an exciting subgenre to dive back into and remind audiences of,\u201d McManus adds. \u201cAnd sure enough, after we wrote it, it really took off and has become so ubiquitous.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cSo many multiverse stories feel like they\u2019re taking advantage of how wild the worlds can get.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n But the idea of using the multiverse conceit in a revenge thriller was still fairly unheard of. So the McManus brothers stuck to their guns and were finally able to bring Redux Redux<\/em> over the finish line, premiering the film at the 2025 South by Southwest Film & TV Festival, where it was met with universal praise<\/a>. And despite the fatigue that general audiences are feeling for anything multiverse, Redux Redux<\/em> manages to feel fresh, shocking, and completely novel. It\u2019s a taut, original take on the sci-fi revenge movie, one that makes you forget that you ever felt tired of multiverse stories. \u201cLuckily, people seem to be OK with it so far,\u201d McManus says wryly.<\/p>\n Inverse <\/em>spoke with Kevin and Matthew McManus about the challenges of making a low-budget multiverse movie, how Terminator<\/em> inspired them, and why they never even considered time travel.<\/p>\n This interview has been edited for clarity and brevity<\/em>.<\/p>\n