Although he’s been talking it up for years, it’s starting to sound like Chad Stahelski’s efforts to reboot cult ’80s action-fantasy flick Highlander are finally genuinely coming to fruition. We’ve previously reported on a bunch of big names signing on to the Henry Cavill-led film, including Russell Crowe in the part previously filled by Sean Connery, and Dave Bautista as the new movie’s take on baddie Clancy Brown. Now THR reports that MCU veteran Karen Gillan has just signed on to the remake from the John Wick director, where she’ll play the loving wife of Cavill’s title character—who, given the whole “married to an immortal swordfighter” thing, is probably due for some kind of tragic ending.
For those unfamiliar with Highlander, the basic thing you need to know is that he’s one of the princes of the universe; no man can be his equal; he’s got to be the ruler of you all. Also, he’s a guy living in 16th century Scotland who finds out he’s immortal in the most direct way possible, i.e., when someone sticks a sharp piece of metal through his chest, kicking off several centuries of swordfights and, occasionally, moping about non-immortal dead wives. Cavill’s been attached to the part previously played by Christopher Lambert for years at this point, even as Stahelski’s reputation has continued to grow on the backs of four consistently kickass (if also sometimes highly convoluted) John Wick movies. Production on the remake finally picked up some momentum earlier this year, as Crowe and Industry‘s Marisa Abela both signed on for the movie, which is supposed to go into production next month. (Bautista formally signed a deal just a few weeks ago, but his name’s been associated with this thing for a full decade at this point.)
Gillan’s casting suggests that Stahelski is going to hew pretty closely to the plot of Russell Mulcahy’s 1986 original, right down to her character keeping the same name, Heather, that Beatie Edney sported in the original film. (She’s also actually Scottish, something of a rarity for a franchise extremely happy to pass a French-American off as a Scottish Highlander, and its only genuinely Scottish star as an immortal Spaniard.) Gillan most recently appeared on film in Mike Flanagan’s The Life Of Chuck; she also still regularly fulfills her franchise duties, voicing Guardians Of The Galaxy member Nebula as recently as last year’s third season of What If…?
