The Tethered perfectly represent the film’s tagline: “We are our own worst enemy.” Peele further elaborated on the meaning of Us' doppelgangers being the antagonists in an interview with Entertainment Weekly. “I think the main idea that went into writing this film is that we’re our own worst enemy, and that idea created this monster, The Tethered,” he said. “I wanted to forge this new mythology that explored our duality and the duality of the characters. To the actors, I knew this was the ultimate fun because who doesn’t want to play two roles in a movie; when you’re tired in one, you get to jump into the other. But I think what was a fun challenge for actors, was finding the connections between the characters and their counterparts.”