When Sinners begins, Smoke and Stack return to Mississippi as men shaped by experiences the film rarely names outright. Their past reveals itself in fragments — in how they move, how they speak, and the tension that exists before anyone says a word.
That history, however, was never incidental.
In a recent conversation on In Proximity, writer-director Ryan Coogler and star Michael B. Jordan shared that Smoke and Stack’s lives were built with intention long before filming began, even if much of that story never appeared explicitly onscreen.
“There’s the script I wrote,” Coogler explained, “and then there’s the movie we finished.”
What follows is the internal origin story of Smoke and Stack — the timeline, relationships, and character choices that existed before page one of Sinners.
Childhood: Violence as the First Bond
Smoke and Stack grew up in a violent household. Their earliest defining moment came when Smoke killed their father to protect his brother — an act that permanently shaped their dynamic. From that point on, Smoke became the protector, while Stack remained the dreamer. That split isn’t philosophical; it’s survival-based.
Michael B. Jordan explained that moment became the foundation for how he approached Smoke throughout the film.
“That gave me a lens to look through Smoke in all situations. He’s always making choices for future stability and safety.”
It’s also why Smoke approaches life with restraint and calculation, while Stack moves with ambition and risk. The roles were assigned early — and neither brother ever truly escaped them.
War: World War I and Its Aftermath
As young men, Smoke and Stack left home and eventually joined the U.S. military, fighting overseas during World War I. That experience didn’t just harden them — it changed how Smoke’s trauma manifests physically.
The film hints at this through Smoke’s hyper-awareness, his controlled movements, and his inability to fully relax in any environment. The war is never shown, but it lives in his body language and decision-making — a reminder of how much of Sinners is carried through performance rather than exposition.
Mary, Annie, and the First Fracture
After the war, the twins briefly returned to Mississippi. By then, Mary — once seen as a younger, almost sibling-like presence — had grown older. Stack began seeing her differently, and a romantic relationship developed.
That relationship created a quiet but lasting fracture. Smoke never approved, viewing it as forbidden and destabilizing. Mary’s mother shared those concerns, further isolating Stack’s choices from the rest of the family unit.
Eventually, the tension led to the twins splitting apart.
Three Years Apart
For roughly three years, Smoke and Stack lived separate lives.
- Smoke settled with Annie and attempted something resembling stability.
- Stack left with Mary, chasing a future built on possibility rather than safety.
This period mattered deeply — not because it healed anything, but because it showed both brothers what life looked like without the other. That experiment ended in tragedy.
Loss and Reunion
Smoke and Annie lost their daughter — a devastating event that collapsed the fragile stability Smoke had tried to build.
Ryan Coogler put it simply:
“When they lost their daughter, that’s when things got rocky.”
After that loss, both brothers left their partners and reunited in Chicago.
This moment is crucial. Smoke doesn’t just return more guarded — he returns changed. The grief becomes part of how he negotiates, protects, and ultimately decides who lives and who doesn’t.
Chicago: Survival, Not Glamour
In Chicago, Smoke and Stack worked in the margins of organized crime, handling jobs others couldn’t afford to be connected to. Being twins — and outsiders — made them useful.
Jordan described it as work designed to stay invisible.
“They were doing jobs that Capone didn’t want traced back to him.”
Chicago taught them how power moves:
- how violence is outsourced,
- how money circulates,
- how chaos can be redirected.
They learned enough to survive — and enough to know when to leave.
Returning to Mississippi: Where the Film Begins
By the time Sinners starts, Smoke and Stack are no longer becoming who they are — they already are.
Smoke has accepted his role as protector, even when it requires brutality. Stack still dreams of something larger, even when that dream puts everyone at risk. Their return to Mississippi isn’t about nostalgia; it’s about control, legacy, and unfinished business.
Everything that unfolds in Sinners — the deals, the betrayals, the violence — is rooted in choices made long before the first scene.
The film doesn’t explain that history because it doesn’t need to. It’s already there — in how Smoke stands still, how Stack talks too much, and how neither brother ever truly walks away from the other.
Why this works
- Quotes support, not dominate
- Each quote clarifies intent or consequence
- Nothing feels like a transcript or podcast recap
- It reads as authority, not fandom
If you want next, I can:
- write a one-paragraph editor’s note to frame this as an explainer
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Just tell me the next step.