It's been a while since we first learned of plans for Justice League star Henry Cavill to star in a new Highlander movie. The property has sat on the shelf for years, and for The Witcher actor, this reboot could mark the start of a new fantasy franchise for him in theaters.
John Wick director Chad Stahelski is still attached to helm a movie that will be a modern retelling of Connor MacLeod's centuries-old feud with his fellow powerful immortals. For those of you unfamiliar with the premise, Highlander follows them in a fight to the death to absorb each other's powers. In the end, there can be "only one."
In an interview with The Direct, the filmmaker revealed that he hopes to begin shooting "by Spring [2025]" and shared some intriguing new plot details.
"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. There's big opportunity for action," Stahelski teased. "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."
He continued, "My selling point was, to [Henry Cavill], look, you've got a guy that's been alive for over 500 years. He's the last person in the world that wanted to be in this situation. So you get to cover quite a broad spread of a character arc there. And you get to experience someone that's trained over 500 years and sort of played [with many types of] martial arts."
Various iterations of a new Highlander movie have existed since 2008, with everyone from Justin Lin to Juan Carlos Fresnadillo attached at one time or another. Now, though, it feels like the prequel/reboot is closer than ever to becoming a reality.
Last year, Stahelski talked about his approach to creating what could eventually become a Highlander Cinematic Universe, of sorts.
"I think we have some very good elements now. The trick is when you have the tagline 'there can only be one,' you can’t just kill everybody the first time," he explained. "I’ll say it for you first, our story engages a lot of the same characters and stuff like that."
"But we’ve also brought in elements of all the TV shows, and we’re trying to do a bit of a prequel, a setup to The Gathering, so we have room to grow the property," the filmmaker concluded.
Stahelski is saying all the right things and has some very exciting ideas for where to take the Cavill-led project. Plus, who wouldn't want to see the former Superman play a 500-year-old martial artist?
Highlander doesn't have a confirmed release date but a 2026 debut seems likely.