Henry Cavill continues his one man quest to play as many iconic characters as possible. After previously embodying the roles of Superman, Sherlock Holmes and Geralt of Rivia, Friday brought the announcement that the Justice League star is set to portray the lead in Lionsgate’s Highlander reboot, which is coming from John Wick director Chad Stahelski.
The British actor has since responded to the news on social media, sharing a screenshot of Variety’s write-up of the story on Instagram. In his caption for the post, Cavill detailed his personal history with the franchise, which dates back to his childhood, describing boarding this relaunch as the “opportunity of a lifetime” and teased that the new movie will be an adventure fans “shall never forget.”
“Very exciting news today!” Cavill began. “I’ve been a fan of Highlander since I was lad. From the movies in all of their 80s, Queen slathered glory to the TV show with an actor who looked remarkably like one of my brothers. Being not shy with swords, and having a director as talented as Chad Stahelski at the helm, this is an opportunity like no other. Deep diving into franchise storytelling with all the tools at our disposal, is going to make this an adventure I (and hopefully all of you) shall never forget.”
The original Highlander released in 1986, with Mortal Kombat‘s Christopher Lambert in the title role as immortal warrior Connor MacLeod. The film spawned four sequels that arrived over the next 20 years, as well as the 1990s TV series that Cavill references starring Adrian Paul as Duncan MacLeod, Connor’s descendant. There was also an animated show featuring another member of the clan, Quentin MacLeod. Character details about Cavill’s role are currently under wraps, so it’s unknown if he’s simply playing a new version of Connor or if the reboot will continue down the road of previous spinoffs and he’s portraying a different MacLeod.
In any case, the project has been in the works for the longest time, with Stahelski involved since 2016. At one point, Dave Bautista was attached to play The Kurgan, MacLeod’s nemesis originally portrayed by Clancy Brown. It’s yet to be made clear if he’ll be joining Cavill on board the pic, but regardless, it sounds like the new Highlander is finally gaining steam, so hopefully more news will follow sooner rather than later.