cross-posted from: https://feddit.uk/post/1842280
Talking to the Happy Sad Confused podcast, the John Wick director suggested his approach to the new film in development will be to launch a potential series of films. He says the idea is to not rush the first movie to the original film’s conclusion — which crowned MacLeod the sole survivor of a group of dueling immortals following their climactic Gathering.
“I think we have some very good elements now,” he said. “The trick is when you have the tagline, ‘There can only be one,’ you can’t just kill everybody the first time.”
Stahelski also said the film will incorporate elements of the 1992 syndicated Highlander TV series, which ran for six seasons.
“Our story engages a lot of the same characters, but we’ve also brought in elements of all the TV shows,” Stahelski said. “We’re trying to do a bit of a prequel — a setup to The Gathering — so we have room to grow the property.”
He noted he hasn’t thought of John Wick as a franchise (despite that Continental TV show coming) but he does see Highlander as a potential franchise.
“We have ideas for days for the coolest characters [that could make for] an epic TV show,” he said. “I just think that’s rich mythology when you can pick any period of time, any nationality, any culture, any type of person and make them an immortal that have to duel and deal with the burden of immortality — that’s fucking cool.”
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Depends, we talking the animated series or the live action?
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yes
Yep. I loved the Four Horsemen saga.
no
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I think the series is a product of its time. For all the good and bad that entails. I wasn’t able to watch it at the time it aired, but I somehow got a copy of a catalog filled with show-related merch, and that lived in my imagination for a long time. When I finally watched it a couple years ago, it was… a fairly painful experience. I was only able to get through it by using it as background noise while I played games on a handheld console (Vita, 3DS) or worked. After the first season, it did kind of improve for the next couple seasons, but never enough that I’d consider it anything more than average TV (and even that would be generous for most of it). The last three seasons were bad enough that if I didn’t already have the full series on hand, I simply would’ve dropped it altogether.
I do appreciate the way the show expanded the mythos, though. Having all those factions, both mortal and immortal, was a good decision.
I think a full reboot could serve this well, and I’d be excited to see what they can with a decent budget on a streaming platform (for example), without all the constraints of broadcast TV standards and practices.
He’s not all there. Look at his profile
Highlander? Rebooting Highlander…
My wife gets furious over reboots. Like hellfire, brimstone, the fucking works. She went full postal over 21 jump street, and afaik has never actually seen it, or the sequel.
I’m generally kinda “whatever” with it. Most of them could simply have a different title and stand on their own, and the titling just seems kinda “fuck it were out of ideas” lazy, making it odd, because you took the old title out of laziness, then made a whole ass new movie? Weird… that’s weird man.
We might switch out on this one though. You can’t do this with Highlander. The old Highlander movie is gonna show up and chop its fucking head off because THERE CAN BE ONLY ONE.
(Yeah… this whole ass comment was a dad joke… Dgaf)
Why not reboot though. Its one of those things I don’t think really I want to go away. It saves so much time. I already know the story and characters. I don’t need 6 seasons and 2 films to build the mythos. Its all built into it.
It could work. Reset Raiden (er, Christopher Lambert) in Sean Connery’s role. Introduce known and new immortals while slow feeding a build up to the Quickening. Just try to avoid any of what happened with 2. Just, no.
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Cast Pedro Pascal and make him do a Scottish accent while still playing a Spaniard.
Hold on a sec, you don’t want them to use any of the Highlander 2 revolutionary ideas?
/s
Seriously though, trying to reboot Highlander might actually work. It’s a known property, but really only the first movie had any value (and some of the TV series) and it’s not that well known from younger generations. It’s also not such a classic that you cannot touch it without people screaming (like, say, Ghostbusters)
Edit: grammar
Except all reboots waste time retelling the very beginning of a characters development because they are banking on starting a franchise.
How many reboots are stories about the lead up to the character becoming the character? This sounds like we won’t even get to the “there can only be one” finale before the franchise is cancelled.
Yea that’s a waste. But not all. James bond is a good example. You just start the story and go
Could be straightforward enough. Just start with his death and then he wakes up. Mild confusion, but Conner finds him quick enough to explain the basics, your immortal now, there can be only one, we’ve done this before but something new fucked it up.
He can either be the new Sean Connery as a mentor, or have him get instakilled by our big bad.
We can see Carvell deal with his old life (perhaps someone had him killed, aka mafia?) and the new immortal world he got sucked into.
… Or maybe I just wrote it the way you said sucks, I’m not sure
Ahem, every reboot of a Batman or Spider-Man movie starts with another origin, except maybe the Pattinson Batman, I can’t remember
Battinson didn’t really do an origin. He’s a younger Batman, and they touch somewhat on his parents’ death, but they don’t like…re-enact the run-up to him becoming Batman. He’s just Batman.
FWIW I rather liked The Batman. I liked the more noire-detective element that often seems to be missing from Batman movies.
Worth it.
Just tell her they are only rebooting the 2nd movie. It will be a direct sequel with survivors from their alien home world finding earth and attempting to terraform it after the events in the 2nd movie.
She went full postal over 21 jump street, and afaik has never actually seen it, or the sequel.
That is a real damn shame because both films are fantastic. Of course, they are the exception rather than the rule. Phil Lord and Christopher Miller basically specialize in turning bad ideas into gold.
I don’t care, just give me the Highlander TV series reboot and a ripping Queen intro
I’m just sick and fucking tired of reboots. I get it because it’s like an opportunity for millennials to share their childhood with Gen z and Gen alpha and so of course it’s going to make money because it’s running off that nostalgia bank but what the fuck are people going to be nostalgic about in 20 years from now?
I mean, they’re not getting any original material to build happy memories to, and 40 years from now all is going to happen is the last surviving millennials will be arguing with Gen beta how the third reboot of Spider-Man was the best one and they’re going to say no the 7th reboot is obviously the best one, you don’t even fucking know what you’re talking about old man
I agree, but it was such a great idea and an excellent movie. Too bad there were no sequels.
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Every time a studio comes up with a new idea and original movie, the fanboys shit on it and nobody sees it in theater. So original movies are a risk.
Oh fuck, this should be good…
I would prefer Cavil do something unique. Like how Keanu did with John Wick.
How about something cyberpunk? Where every one is mostly using guns and he’s they guy running around with a sword
And it’s like he’s playing the sub 3 int character in one of the two original Fallout games. Dumb as shit, but fuckinf strong.
Reboot? So, I guess there will be two.
It’s just lucky they never made a sequel to Highlander.
Henry Cavill? I guess the first season will be amazing, after which they’ll replace him for caring too much about honouring the material.
Except this is going to be a film.
very into this. there can be only one.
Or you could tell those stories without a reboot. You have all of history to play with. Not every immortal would meet or be aware of every other immortal. And you can still recast a Shpaniard for side stories that tie in.
I am so sick of Cavil and reboots.
Speaking for myself: Cavill keeps getting caught in projects he’s passionate about, but whose producers/creatives don’t honor the writing (Witcher) or characterization (Superman) of their respected properties.
What was wrong with Superman’s characterization in Man of Steel?
I’d say it’s less Cavill specifically and more the entire mood of a “Superman” story. Superman is basically entirely about the hopeful motivation of the human spirit. He’s an avatar for humanity though he’s not even human. He’s the best of us without even being one of us. To me it can be boiled down to one moment, the moment where Jonathan Kent talked his own son out of being the best he could be in favor of selfishly keeping a secret.
Nailed it. Snyder’s vision in greys and sepiatone also bled themselves into tones of the film’s stories. Many people still associate Superman with Christopher Reeves’ dorky/boy scout portayal guided by Richard Donner’s playful/positive vibe.
dude was great in witcher, never played the games, knew nothing, but he was captivating, and sold the show for me, until this last season when the producers killed it dead with boredom
