Jeremy Irons is the latest name to join the cast of Chad Stahelski’s Highlander reboot, starring Henry Cavill.
Playing The Watchers’ Leader
According to the trades, Jeremy Irons will play the film’s other antagonist (along with Dave Bautista as Kurgan) — the leader of a secret order known as The Watchers. The group in the reboot is described as monitoring immortals and considers them a danger to humanity.
Fans of the Adrian Paul TV series will recognize The Watchers, as they were first introduced in that show. This addition further confirms what Stahelski has said about pulling inspiration directly from the TV series.
In the Adrian Paul series, The Watchers are a secret order of mortals whose mission is to observe and chronicle the lives and duels of Immortals, but never interfere in “The Game.” However, there were those rogue Watchers who deemed the Immortals a threat. So it will be interesting to see where Stahelski goes with his version.
Ties to the DCEU
Irons is no stranger to genre fans, having previously starred as Alfred Pennyworth in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice and Justice League.
His casting marks him as the second major DCEU actor to appear in Highlander, alongside Russell Crowe, who plays Ramirez. Cavill himself, of course, was Superman in the DCEU.
The Growing Cast
The ensemble now includes Henry Cavill as Connor MacLeod, Crowe as Ramirez, Dave Bautista as the villainous Kurgan, Karen Gillan as Heather, Marisa Abela in a new lead role as an immortal, with Djimon Hounsou, Max Zhang, and WWE’s Drew McIntyre as Angus MacLeod, the brother of Cavill’s Connor.
The Highlander Legacy
The original 1986 film centered on the battle between immortal warriors, led by Christopher Lambert’s Connor MacLeod and Sean Connery’s Ramirez, against Clancy Brown’s Kurgan. The franchise became a cult favorite and inspired multiple sequels and the long-running Adrian Paul TV series, where The Watchers were first introduced.
With Stahelski directing and Amazon MGM’s United Artists backing the project, Highlander is shaping up to be one of the biggest fantasy reboots in years.
The film doesn’t have a release date as of yet. Production is paused as Cavill was injured training on set and is expected to resume at the start of the year.
