After a long wait, we finally have a glimpse of what's to come in the sequel to 2020's The Old Guard.
Filming on the sequel wrapped quite some time ago but footage never materialized on the sequel, despite the graphic novel adaptation being one of Netflix's better-reviewed original films.
Speaking on the delays, franchise star Charlize Theron previously stated, "Netflix went through quite a changeover. We got kind of stuck in that and our post-production shut down, I think, five weeks into it."
"They were going through a lot of changes, and I totally understand it. We finally picked it back up and I’m really excited about it. It’s really good. It’s a really important film to us. I only wanted to do it if we could make it amazing. I really love this movie."
Now, in a new interview with IGN, Theron has added, "The stakes have never been higher. Andy is mortal now, so there's a very real possibility that she could die during any mission this time around."
"The last film saw some intense changes in the dynamic of the group: Andy lost her immortality, Nile [KiKi Layne] became immortal, and Booker [Matthias Schoenaerts] was exiled. We see that Andy’s leadership style has changed. Because she’s mortal now, she’s dedicating however much time she has left to doing the most good she can."
Victoria Mahoney takes the director’s chair for The Old Guard 2 (replacing Gina Prince-Bythewood), with a screenplay penned by Greg Rucka and Sarah L. Walker.
Based on a 2017 comic with the same name from Greg Rucka and Leandro Fernández, The Old Guard was released in 2020 and was a surprise hit for Netflix. At the time of its release, it ranked among the top 10 most successful original launches in the platform's history.
It also received positive reviews from film critics, with an 80% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes and an average aggregate score of 3.7 out of 5.
Returning cast members include Theron as Andromache of Scythia, KiKi Layne as Nile Freeman, Marwan Kenzari as Yusuf Al-Kaysani, Luca Marinelli as Nicky/Nicolò di Genova, Matthias Schoenaerts as Booker / Sebastian Le Livre, Ngô Thanh Vân as Quynh and Chiwetel Ejiofor as James Copley.
The Old Guard 2 begins streaming on Netflix on July 2.