Ryan Coogler has unveiled some of the hidden histories of his original characters in Sinners. The 2025 horror film, freshly Oscar-nominated, stars Michael B. Jordan, Hailee Steinfeld, Miles Caton, and Wunmi Mosaku, in a newly created supernatural vampire story from the mind of the Black Panther director. When Sinners begins, it finds the Smokestack twins (played by Jordan) returning to town after several years away, which leaves many lingering questions about their backstories before the film begins.
Coogler and Jordan have since confirmed some of the characters' histories in Sinners during an interview with Proximity Media. When the Smokestack twins return to Clarksdale, Mississippi, in 1932, they've been away for years and bring quite a reputation. Coogler clarified the timeline leading up to the film, revealing how the duo gained their notoriety and served in the military:
Ryan Coogler: "They killed their father, hid out at Mary's mom's place, then went to New York and joined the military. Went to fight in France, came back, and they went back home for a little bit."
Coogler continued that after their time in military service, the pair returned to Mississippi for a while, which is "when Stack and Mary first happened." Jordan and Steinfeld's characters revealed in Sinners, they still felt deeply for each other even after Stack left for Chicago, but this relationship initially began under scrutiny from Stack's twin and Mary's mom:
Coogler: "When they came back home, Mary was older, so that was when Stack and Mary happened."
Michael B. Jordan: "And [Stack started] seeing her in a different light, like, 'oh man this ain't the little girl, that [I remember]'."
Coogler: "Because she was like a younger sister to them, you know? Smoke and Mary's mom didn't love that."
Coogler continued that this stint at home led to a "three-year run where the twins had basically broken up." During this time, Stack and Mary took their relationship out of town to Little Rock, and Smoke and Mary settled down and had their baby.
Coogler: "It was like a three-year run, where the twins had basically broken up. Where Smoke and Annie got their house, and Stack and Mary went to Little Rock. When they lost their daughter was when things got rocky. They both basically left their partners and met up in Chicago."
Chicago is another key event in the twins' timeline before Sinners begins. When the duo returns to town, it's to find that word of their work with the gangs in Chicago has spread. The film confirms that Smoke and Stack were away for 7 years, but the exact nature of their time in Chicago is never revealed.
Jordan explained that Smoke and Stack worked for Al Capone, "doing the jobs that Capone didn't want to do himself." While in the criminal underworld of Chicago, the twins scouted "who the major players were," and "figured out how to take advantage of the situation:"
Jordan: "The key things from that experience for Smoke and Stack was, they were doing jobs that Capone didn't want to do himself because they'd know it was Capone, but [he] used these guys from out of town, and they're twins, it's like a peculiar thing, nobody's going to trace it back to him.
So amongst that, they started to figure out who the major players were. You know, the Italians, you hear them talking about the different kinds of gangsters who are running Chicago. And they figured out how to take advantage of the situation, and get out of there and go start their own sh*t."
This run in Chicago led directly into Smoke and Stack's return to Mississippi, where they came home with the knowledge they'd gained as gangsters and put it into action to set up their own juke joint.
Sinners was released in April 2025 and is currently streaming on HBO Max. The film went on to become one of the year's biggest hits, breaking the all-time record for the most Oscar nominations.
Filling in the Blanks in Sinners’ Story
While Sinners still feels complete in its story when it picks up with the Smokestack brothers in 1932, the duo's unspoken history at times feels as interesting as the movie's current events.
Coogler clearly had the twins' histories mapped out as he was writing Sinners, which made their backstories feel rich and fully fleshed out when the story begins. It led to intriguing relationships between Mary and Stack and Annie and Smoke, but also left audiences to draw their own conclusions with minimal information, such as the twins' history with Al Capone in Chicago.
Coogler and Jordan's unpacking of Sinners' lore now fills in many of the questions fans may have had about the Smokestack pair. However, with many calling for a sequel, or even a prequel, to Sinners following its success, Coogler may want to keep some of those cards closely guarded should he ever choose to return to the story (after his commitments to Black Panther 3).
