Henry Cavill may star in Highlander reboot from John Wick director

Henry Cavill in The Witcher — (Image credit: Netflix)

Henry Cavill is in talks to star in the Highlander reboot from John Wick director Chad Stahelski, according to Deadline.

The Witcher star is reportedly set to take the lead role in the reboot, which Stahelski has been trying to make for well over a decade. Eight years ago we reported that Ryan Reynolds had dropped out of the reboot, while over a decade ago there were rumors that Twilight screenwriter Melissa Rosenberg was involved and Fast Five's Justin Lin was set to direct. The Highlander reboot will be produced by Neil H. Moritz and Josh Davis.

The original Highlander released in 1986 and starred Sean Connery, Christopher Lambert, Roxanne Hart, and Clancy Brown. The film follows the age-old war between immortal warriors and weaves together stories set in the 16th century and the 1980s, where the winner of a fight to the death is crowned Highlander and gets extra powers outside of immortality. The lead, Connor MacLeod (Lambert), fights his mortal enemy Kurgan (Brown) across hundreds of years, ending in 1985 New York. Despite the film's tagline being "there can be only one", Highlander spawned several sequels and TV spin-offs.

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It's unclear if Cavill will play Connor MacLeod or another character altogether - the plot is currently unknown. Cavill is already a great swordsman, as he does most of his own stunts for The Witcher, so he'd be a great fit for the role. If there's clear confirmation that Cavill is the next Highlander, we'll update you accordingly.

The Witcher season 2 will be released at the end of 2021.

Alyssa Mercante used to be a features writer at GamesRadar+ and is now a freelance writer and editor. Prior to entering the industry, she got her Masters's degree in Modern and Contemporary Literature at Newcastle University with a dissertation focusing on contemporary indie games. She spends most of her time playing competitive shooters and in-depth RPGs and was recently on a PAX Panel about the best bars in video games. In her spare time Alyssa rescues cats, practices her Italian, and plays soccer.