Henry Cavill may have already played some of the most powerful characters in pop culture today, including Superman in Man of Steel and Geralt of Rivia in Netflix‘s The Witcher series, and now, it looks like the actor is being eyed to star in Lionsgate‘s upcoming reboot of Highlander according to sources at Deadline. John Wick‘s Chad Stahelski is set to direct with What Happened to Monday‘s Kerry Williamson writing the script.
Cavill is being considered for one of the two leads, but he’s likely being considered to play Connor MacLeod, the 16th-century Scottish warrior at the center of Highlander who learns he’s immortal after dying in battle. The original 1986 fantasy adventure film which starred Christopher Lambert and Sean Connery spawned a massive franchise after finding success on home video that included sequels, tie-in novels, TV shows, comics and video games.
The reboot has been in various stages of development for over a decade. Fast and Furious franchise veteran Justin Lin was at one point set to direct, as was 28 Weeks Later director Juan Carlos Fresnadillo. Previously, actors like Ryan Reynolds and Dave Bautista were attached to star in the project.
It isn’t confirmed that Cavill will star in the film, but it seems to be confirmed that the actor will no longer play Superman for Warner Bros., as J.J. Abrams is working on a franchise reboot with screenwriter Ta-Nehisi Coates. Cavill is also currently shooting season 2 of The Witcher for Netflix.
Photo credit: Raymond Flotat