John Wick meets The Witcher: after losing Superman and Geralt, Henry Cavill reboots a cult '80s fantasy
Henry Cavill has had a rough couple of years by movie-star standards: Superman recast out from under him, The Witcher handed to Liam Hemsworth, the Warhammer thing still gestating. A lesser jawline would have retreated to prestige TV.
Instead, he picked up a broadsword. Cavill is Connor MacLeod in Chad Stahelski's Highlander reboot — yes, that Chad Stahelski, the man who built the John Wick cathedral — and after five years of delays, a training injury and a studio switch from Lionsgate to Amazon MGM, the thing is finally, actually shooting.
"There can be only one," but the cast list disagrees
The ensemble Stahelski assembled is frankly rude to other action movies:
- Russell Crowe in the mentor slot Sean Connery occupied in 1986
- Dave Bautista as The Kurgan, the immortal villain previously owned by Clancy Brown
- Jeremy Irons as the head of the Watchers, the secret society that keeps tabs on immortals
- plus Karen Gillan, Djimon Hounsou, Marisa Abela and Max Zhang, because apparently everyone wanted in.
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Cavill announced the first look on Instagram with the giddiness of a man who's waited half a decade:
"This has been quite the journey for me"
— which is a very polite way to describe tearing yourself up in training badly enough to push the entire production back a season.
The footage says everything
At CinemaCon, Amazon rolled a reel that opened with Cavill's video message from set:
"I am Connor MacLeod, who was born in 1518, and I am immortal."
What followed: a neon-soaked rave swordfight, motorcycle chases, and centuries-hopping mayhem from the Scottish Highlands to present-day Hong Kong, shot by John Wick's own cinematographer. Stahelski's elevator pitch for the whole enterprise is four words long —
"John Wick with swords"
— and I have never been sold on anything faster. The target is a 2027 theatrical release. Sharpen your katanas and cue the Queen needle-drop; some franchises really are immortal.
Previously we wrote: House of the Dragon is missing from the Emmys, and it isn't a snub
