Actor Henry Cavill was the focal point of Lionsgate's CinemaCon panel this afternoon, as he was on hand to promote the studio's upcoming release, The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare, which hits theaters later this month.
However, Cavill also touched on the studio's upcoming Highlander reboot, which will be directed by John Wick director Chad Stahelski.
“If you thought you’d seen me do swordwork before, you haven’t seen anything yet,” teased Cavill who previously starred in Netflix's The Witcher.
Hinting at some potential substantial changes from the original film, Cavill admitted that his first read of the script left him with some questions.
"I’m a lover of the original movies, for better or for worse, and it’s one of those things where when I was reading the script for the first time I wasn’t quite too sure where they were going to go with it," he remarked.
He also teased how the reboot will better define the characters, adding, "but my goodness me oh my, we are going deep into these characters."
This closely echoes what Cavill previously stated back in February, when he remarked, "I was, am, a Highlander fan. They were great fun movies. Obviously, I watched them when I was a lot younger, and since rewatched."
"But also the TV show. I really enjoyed the lore behind it. That sense of a tragic warrior, with more of a story to tell than just a cool guy with a cool sword doing cool things. And this goes even deeper into that."
Highlander follows a fictional story that asserts that immortals exist, hidden within normal society. They must hunt and kill other immortals by beheading them in a contest known as The Gathering, which will see the last-standing immortal gain ultimate power.
While the origins of the contest is never explicitly explained, the franchise generally takes the stance that immortals have existed since the dawn of time and that the contest between them must only abide by three hard rules:
- combat on Holy Ground is forbidden
- combat must be one on one
- in the end, there can only be one.
Cavill recently left his role as Geralt of Rivia in Netflix's The Witcher and was also informed by Warner Bros. Discovery that he would not be returning as Superman after the decision was made to reboot the DC Cinematic Universe.
He could definitely use a victory, and fans of the actor are hoping that Stahleski's action background combined with Cavill's sword abilities gleaned from his time as Geralt will result in a successful production.