What do we know about Novichok from Carry-On? Story of the nerve agent weapon, explored

If you heard about Novichok in Netflix's Carry-On and are wondering what it actually is, find the story behind this deadly nerve agent explored here. Before diving into the story behind the weapon, let's briefly recap this recent Netflix thriller.

Carry-On, starring Taron Egerton in the lead role, follows Ethan, an ambitious TSA officer from Los Angeles who aspires to become a police officer. On Christmas Eve, he goes to work, hoping to get noticed by his superior for a promotion. Instead, Ethan finds himself in a tricky situation that jeopardizes life as he knows it.

While managing a baggage-scanning lane, he crosses paths with a mysterious stranger who refers to himself as the Traveller. He forces Ethan to pass a carry-on case through his scanner. If not, he threatens to kill Ethan's pregnant wife. The case contains Novichok, a nerve agent that can potentially kill a lot of people. So, Ethan tries to do everything in his power to save the lives of innocent civilians while protecting his wife.

Since its release on Netflix, this thriller has become one of their most-watched titles, globally and in the United States. So, considering the massive viewing hours backing this thrilling flick, many fans might be wondering what Novichok is. Let's dig into the story behind this life-threatening nerve agent.

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Is Novichok from Carry-On an actual weapon? The story behind this nerve agent, explored

Netflix's Carry-On is filled with many twists and turns that can keep people on the edge of their seats. One of these twists is the reveal of Novichok, a lethal nerve agent that the mysterious Traveller expects TSA agent Ethan to pass through security. The Traveller orchestrates a potential terrorist attack and terrifies the employees at the Los Angeles International Airport.

Novichok is not a fictional weapon invented by Carry-On's screenwriters for the film. Turns out, it is an actual nerve agent that has killed a number of people in real life. It is a family of nerve agents which was researched in the Soviet Union from 1971 until 1993 in Russia. According to the reports, it was developed by the Soviet Union in a specific manner not to get detected by NATO's security equipment.

According to the Russian scientists who developed Novichok, it is the deadliest nerve agent. They claim that some of its variants are five or eight times more potent than VX (a supremely toxic chemical compound). Some other variants are ten times deadlier than soman (another supremely toxic chemical substance).

In the past, this nerve agent was used in many assassination projects to poison different individuals. The most recent reported use of this agent was in 2020, which led to the death of Russian lawyer and opposition leader Alexei Navalny. His life was explored in a recently Oscar-winning documentary titled Navalny.

The toxic chemicals within can lead to several people's deaths. So, Traveller in Netflix's Carry-On is carrying it for his terrifying plan, which makes sense. The Traveller goes into detail to reveal how this nerve agent can lead to a person's death after respiratory and cardiac arrest. This agent is, by nature, difficult to detect, which makes it ideal for the Traveller's terrorist plan.