Highlander Villain Casting Brings an Odd Part of the TV Series to the Movies

Highlander may have bombed with moviegoing audiences in 1986, but it soon became a cult hit, spawning an uneven run of sequels, a live-action TV show, and an animated series. Yet, as popular as they were, these later entries stretched the simplicity of the premise of the movie: there can be only one. Highlander was about immortals who must behead one another in duels until only one remains, the one who will win “the Prize” and gain vast powers in a process called “the Quickening.”

If the first movie, directed by Russell Mulcahy, from a screenplay by Gregory Widen, Peter Bellwood, and Larry Ferguson, ended with Scottish immortal Connor MacLeod (Christopher Lambert) killing his last living rival Kurgan (Clancy Brown) and winning the Prize, then how can the story continue?

The various sequels and spinoffs had their own answers to those questions, but when news came down that John Wick director Chad Stahelski was rebooting the series with Henry Cavill as MacLoed, most assumed they would focus only on the first film, cutting off the sequels and spinoffs like so many immortals’ heads.

Yet, with the recent casting of Jeremy Irons as a secondary antagonist, it turns out that Stahelski and his team are retaining parts of the aforementioned TV series. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Irons will be playing a Watcher, a member of a society of humans who have been studying the immortals for centuries.

The Watchers were part of the big cliffhanger ending the first season of Highlander: The Series, which starred Adrian Paul as Connor’s kinsman Duncan MacLeod. Within that show, the Watchers were largely allies of Duncan, there to observe his works and offer morale as he encounters other immortals and prepares to fight for the Prize. However, they were matched by an offshoot called the Hunters, who considered the Prize to be an inherent threat to humanity, and thus tried to destroy the immortals.

At this point, it’s not clear if Irons will be playing a Hunter, or if the movie is revising the TV lore for the purposes of the film. Those who recall the last time Irons and Cavill shared the screen, the former as Alfred Pennyworth and the latter as Superman in Zack Snyder’s Justice League, will know that adherence to the source material isn’t always a priority.

However the movie treats the Watchers, Irons joins an already impressive cast. Dave Bautista steps into Brown’s shoes as Kurgan, while Russell Crowe will take Sean Connery‘s place as Ramirez, the Spanish immortal who trains Connor… and, given Crowe’s recent work, will probably have an incredible accent. Karen Gillan plays Connor’s first, mortal wife Heather (played by Beatie Edney in the original), while Marisa Abela replaces Roxanne Hart as Brenda, Connor’s love interest in the present.

Djimon Hounsou has also been cast, but his role hasn’t been revealed. Given that the spinoffs are in play, the mind boggles when one thinks about possibilities for the always-welcome Hounsou. Maybe Ducnan’s rival Slan Quince, originally played by Richard Moll? How about the Guardian, the super powered baddie of the 2007 TV movie Highlander: The Source?

Hounsou has lots of options because, as Irons’ casting proves, when it comes to Highlander, there’s never just one.

Highlander is slated for a 2026 release.