The cast of Chad Stahelski’s upcoming Highlander reboot just got even stronger with the addition of Jeremy Irons. The Oscar-winning actor, known for roles like Alfred in Batman v Superman and Ozymandias in HBO’s Watchmen, will play a major villain connected to one of the franchise’s most iconic elements.
Irons is stepping into the role of The Watchers’ leader, described as “the leader of a secret order called The Watchers, who are keeping an eye on the immortals and see them as a threat to humanity.”
Fans of Highlander: The Series will recognize the group immediately since they were introduced in the ’90s show as humans sworn to record the lives of immortals without interfering… though not all of them stuck to that mission.
That makes Irons’ character a big deal for fans of the franchise because it connects the new film directly to the mythology of the TV series.
He’ll be joining Henry Cavill, who’s taking on the role of Connor MacLeod, along with a supporting cast that includes Dave Bautista, who is bringing his larger-than-life presence to The Kurgan, the brutal immortal originally played by Clancy Brown in the 1986 movie.
Russell Crowe has signed on as Ramirez, Connor’s mentor and fellow immortal warrior, a role that was memorably played by Sean Connery.
The film will also feature Marisa Abela as the female lead, Karen Gillan as Connor’s wife Heather, Djimon Hounsou as an “immortal African warrior,” and WWE’s Drew McIntyre as Connor’s brother.
Stahelski has already confirmed that this new version won’t stick to the original’s medieval Highland setting. Instead, the timeline has been updated.
“We’re bringing it forward from the early 1500s in the highlands to the beyond present-day New York and Hong Kong, and seeing how it goes,” Stahelski explained.
“There’s big opportunity for action. There’s a chance to play a character that not a lot of people get to play. And it’s a bit of a love story, but not how you think. On John Wick, I learned a lot on how to bend the storytelling a little… another kind of myth.”
The script comes from Michael Finch, with Scott Stuber, Nick Nesbitt, Neal H. Moritz, Stahelski’s 87Eleven Entertainment, Josh Davis of Davis Panzer Productions, and Louise Rosner producing.
Plot specifics are still being kept under wraps, but the reboot is expected to stay close to the original’s premise: immortals battling through time, with the only way to win being to take your opponent’s head. The survivor earns “the prize” of mortality. As fans know, in the end, there can be only one.
Originally set up at Lionsgate, the project shifted over to Amazon MGM Studios’ United Artists earlier this year. Production hit a small bump when Cavill suffered a training injury, but momentum on this long-awaited reboot hasn’t slowed down.
Source: THR
