The Henry Cavill Highlander Reboot's Latest Casting Announcement Proves the Franchise Is Avoiding Its Biggest Mistake

At agelong last, the Highlander reboot is taking shape. We person a manager successful John Wick’s Chad Stahelski and a caller Connor MacLeod successful Man of Steel’s Henry Cavill. The film’s stacked formed besides includes Russell Crowe, Karen Gillan, Djimon Hounsou, Dave Bautista, Marisa Abela, and Max Zhang. Even Cavill’s caller wounded isn’t doing overmuch to dilatory the momentum of this hotly anticipated reboot.

The latest casting uncover tells america that Jeremy Irons volition play 1 of the film’s villains. Irons’ quality is the person of The Watchers, a shadowy radical that keeps tabs connected immortals similar Cavill’s Connor and Bautista’s The Kurgan. It’s the archetypal casting announcement that suggests the reboot volition deviate from the crippled of the 1986 original. And, frankly, it’s precise bully quality for anyone looking guardant to this movie oregon aboriginal sequels.

Why does Irons’ casting suggest the reboot bid volition code the large flaw of the archetypal Highlander franchise? Let’s discuss.

The Messy Continuity of the Highlander Franchise

1986’s Highlander is simply a cult classical for a reason. It’s the cleanable operation of ‘80s campy and mythic grandeur, tracing the centuries-long travel of Christopher Lambert’s Connor MacLeod arsenic helium fights to go the past immortal lasting successful a satellite wherever radical lone perceive to Queen music. But there’s 1 glaring flaw with the archetypal that went connected to taint the franchise successful each its successive forms: The movie truly doesn’t permission overmuch country for a sequel.

The occupation is that Highlander ends by closing retired its cardinal conflict. Lambert’s Connor defeats Clancy Brown’s Kurgan successful a duel and acquires “The Prize,” gaining the powerfulness of each immortal who ever lived. The movie ends with Connor becoming some mortal and omniscient, escaped to yet bask a quality beingness with his caller lover, Roxanne Hart’s Brenda Wyatt. That doesn’t precisely permission a batch of country for sequels to physique connected the formula.

To beryllium clear, astir of the Highlander sequels are genuinely atrocious films for assorted reasons, not conscionable due to the fact that the archetypal is truthful sequel-unfriendly. But it surely didn’t assistance that each of them person been forced to physique connected a instauration that inherently resists further growth. The filmmakers had 1 manus tied down their backs from the get-go.

In portion due to the fact that there’s truthful small country to grow connected the Highlander mythos aft that archetypal movie, the sequels coiled up veering successful a batch of weird and conflicting directions. Highlander has go a bizarre franchise wherever astir of the sequels beryllium successful stark absorption to the archetypal movie and to 1 another.

Case successful point, 1991’s Highlander II: The Quickening wholly reinvents the mythos to uncover that Connor and his chap immortals are really alien revolutionaries from the satellite Zeist. 1995’s Highlander III: The Sorcerer ignores its predecessor, portion besides disregarding the ending of the archetypal and revealing that Mario Van Peebles’ Kane is different subsister of The Gathering. 2000’s Highlander: Endgame and 2007’s Highlander: The Source veer successful different absorption still, acting arsenic continuations of Highlander: The Series and shifting absorption to Connor’s kinsman, Adrian Paul’s Duncan MacLeod. Like the series, these movies instrumentality spot successful a continuity wherever determination are inactive galore immortals successful beingness pursuing The Kurgan’s death. Endgame astatine slightest has its merits, but The Source is truthful wide reviled that the TV bid creators famously disowned it, and it’s since been rendered non-canon by the merchandise of a Highlander: The Series sequel audio drama.

None of this adjacent gets into 2007’s Highlander: The Search for Vengeance, an anime movie that wisely steers wide of the full remainder of the franchise and tells its ain communicative successful the twelvemonth 2187. You tin recognize wherefore galore Highlander fans similar to clasp the archetypal movie and the TV bid and unreal the remainder ne'er happened. It’s a batch little messy that way.

How the Reboot Is Fixing the Highlander Franchise

Again, astir of the casting announcements truthful acold person suggested that the Highlander reboot is mostly sticking to the look of the original. That is, until Irons’ casting and the uncover that the movie volition see The Watchers. This past enactment is simply a instauration of Highlander: The Series, which depicts them arsenic a cabal of mortals who are sworn to observe the actions of immortals but ne'er interfere successful their lives. When The Gathering is complete, The Watchers volition yet archer humanity that immortals erstwhile walked among them.

This suggests that not lone is the reboot drafting inspiration from Highlander: The Series, but that the crippled is being reworked with an oculus toward gathering a larger, ongoing narrative. As overmuch arsenic the caller movie volition astir apt absorption connected the rivalry betwixt Cavill’s Connor and Bautista’s Kurgan, the inclusion of Irons’ quality tells america that there’s a larger struggle playing retired down the scenes.

Presumably, the film’s climax volition beryllium akin to that of the original, with Connor triumphing implicit The Kurgan aft a heated conflict successful modern-day New York. But alternatively than having Connor triumph The Prize and go an all-seeing, all-knowing mortal, he’ll apt larn that determination are inactive much battles to travel and much immortals to contend with. We tin easy representation the reboot ending with a country wherever Irons’ quality emerges, Nick Fury-style, to archer Connor he’s conscionable taken his archetypal steps into a larger world.

If the Highlander reboot is meant to enactment arsenic a catalyst for a larger bid of films (and we person to ideate that’s the plan), past it lone makes consciousness to spell this route. The reboot can’t marque the aforesaid mistake arsenic the archetypal and adjacent retired its halfway struggle successful 1 movie. It has to permission a crushed for those sequels to exist.

Stahelski confirmed arsenic overmuch successful a 2024 interview, revealing that Highlander is specifically being reimagined with an oculus toward aboriginal sequel expansions.

“I deliberation we person immoderate precise bully elements now,” helium said. “The instrumentality is erstwhile you person the tagline ‘there tin lone beryllium one’, you can’t conscionable termination everybody the archetypal time.”

Stahelski besides confirmed that the reboot is drafting elements from the TV series, adding, “Our communicative engages a batch of the aforesaid characters and worldly similar that. But we’ve besides brought successful elements of each the TV shows, and we’re trying to bash a spot of a prequel, a setup to The Gathering, truthful we person country to turn the property.”

Those hoping for a standalone, done-in-one action/adventure movie successful the vein of the archetypal Highlander whitethorn beryllium disappointed by this approach. But Highlander ever felt similar a saga excessively large to beryllium contained successful 1 film. The archetypal deserved sequels, conscionable not the sequels it received. The anticipation is that the reboot tin pave the mode for a bid that’s acold much accordant successful code and prime than the archetypal tally of Highlander films. This time, astatine least, they’re giving the sequels a warring chance.

For more, cheque retired our picks for the apical 25 enactment movies of each time.

Jesse is simply a mild-mannered unit writer for IGN. Allow him to lend a machete to your intelligence thicket by following @jschedeen connected BlueSky.