In 1986, the cult urban fantasy film Highlander told us that “there can be only one!” And although there were four live-action sequels, one animated movie, as well as two live-action TV shows, and one cartoon. And yet, with all of that, it still feels, in many ways, that the first, 1987 Highlander was the one, and everything else was diminishing returns. So, for the past few decades, the question has been: Can the Highlander magic be recaptured? According to the star of the next reboot, Henry Cavill, the answer is a big yes.
Directed by John Wick’s Chad Stahelski, the forthcoming Highlander reboot starts with Cavill in the lead role of immortal swordsman Connor Macleod, alongside Karen Gillan as Heather, Russell Crowe as Connor’s mentor Ramírez, and Dave Bautista as the villainous Kurgan. In many ways, Cavill and Stahelski’s Highlander sounds like a true remake of the 1986 film starring Christopher Lambert and Sean Connery. Speaking to Men’s Journal recently about his partnership with Googlebook, Cavill also took a second to assure old-school Highlander fans that this is the movie we’ve all been waiting for.
“I think you are going to be pleased,” Cavill said. ” It has everything that you love about Highlander, because it’s all the things that I loved as well; we’ve kept all those. We’ve built upon those. And all the other stuff which maybe feels a little dated for how far we’ve come with filmmaking and action, we’ve built upon those and evolved them.”
Cavill also noted that the fight scenes in the new Highlander are 100 percent crafted on set, on the day each fight was shot. This means that the rehearsal for the fights was a two-year process in which Cavill learned various martial arts and sword-fighting styles. “I trained for about two years to prep for Highlander...I had a lexicon of moves and abilities, and they knew what I was really good at and they knew what I wasn’t so good at,” he said. “Then, we could build something on the day, which was always the case. I was learning every single fight I did in those moments before we shot.”
No release date yet for Highlander, but Cavill says that Stahelski is applying his “genius” to Highlander in the editing process. Things are still being shaped and molded, but I’m incredibly excited for everyone to see what we’ve done.”
Highlander is expected to hit theaters sometime in 2027 or 2028.
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