Highlander Reboot Director Teases Henry Cavill Movie Will Lean Into Lore of Immortality

With the Highlander franchise spanning multiple movies, TV shows, animated series, comics, and other mediums, there’s a lot of lore that has already been explored in the concept, with different elements resonating with different audiences. For the upcoming reboot of the premise from director Chad Stahelski, one of the key concepts will be the idea of immortality, with the filmmaker expressing how those ideas will offer “existential” storytelling opportunities in his revival. Despite how much people love all the sword fighting in the franchise, Stahelski thinks that grappling with mortality is something the series has yet to fully embrace to its maximum potential.

“If you’re a fan at all, you know about the TV shows and the mythology there, the things that worked in the feature aspect of the franchise, what didn’t. I would like to think that it has — I guess, I hope I’m bringing to it the realization of the potential that we all see in that franchise,” Stahleski expressed to Screen Rant. “Now, we probably don’t love all the other ancillary stuff that’s come out of it, but we love the potential of it. There isn’t an episode of the TV show that I didn’t watch hoping for more or wanting more. That’s not to say they did a good or bad job, just that I want more. For whatever reason, 20 years later, I want more Highlander.” 

He continued, “I think that franchise with the mythology of people going through the centuries, and the burden of immortality as much as the wish fulfillment of immortality, you know, how you relate to people you love and don’t love, both mortal and immortal, and what you can do with that is some of the most romantic, interesting, existential stuff I’ve ever seen. I think it’s a playground for everything that I love about the John Wick series, and everything that I can’t do in the John Wick series, because I’m dealing with mortals, so it gives me another realm to play in. So, I just look at it as a natural evolution of worldbuilding and potential behind that is more than any other property that I’m attached to. And I know that, so hopefully, that’s where I’ll put my energies and whatever talent I have.”

The original 1986 movie starred Christopher Lambert, Sean Connery, and Clancy Brown, which explored a world in which immortals were hunting each other down in contemporary New York City, with the origins of these warriors going back centuries. While various incarnations of the story resonate with genre audiences, there’s a bit of campiness and absurdity present in all corners of the lore, so while the franchise has a passionate following, some fans would argue that no one story has fully lived up to the potential of the premise. Stahelski clearly agrees with that perspective.

Stay tuned for details on the upcoming Highlander reboot, which is set to star Henry Cavill.

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