Artnewspress: The Old Guard 2 is prepared to make the third film in the franchise an inevitability. The film, which drops on Netflix later this year, is a sequel to the 2020 Netflix film The Old Guard, directed by Gina Prince-Bythewood from a screenplay by Greg Rucka, who also wrote the comic upon which it is based. The Old Guard followed a team of immortal mercenaries who fight to protect their secret from being unearthed, featuring a cast that included Charlize Theron, KiKi Layne, Marwan Kenzari, Luca Marinelli, Harry Melling, Veronica Ngo, Matthias Schoenaerts, and Chiwetel Ejiofor.
Variety had the opportunity to speak with The Old Guard producer Marc Evans at the premiere of his new Netflix film The Mother. When they touched on the topic of the upcoming Old Guard 2, he teased that the way the film ends “demands a No. 3” that would catch up with the storyline of the graphic novel. While he wouldn’t confirm if Theron would return for a potential Old Guard 3, he did say that the star is “deeply supportive of the franchise.” Read his full quote below:
There’s an ending to No. 2 that kind of demands a No. 3, which makes me very happy.[As to whether she will be in the third film,] Charlize is a producer on the movie and deeply supportive of the franchise.
Is The Old Guard 3 Going to Happen?
Although Evans may be playing coy, at the time of writing it does not sound like The Old Guard 3 has been officially confirmed. Netflix is likely waiting to see the audience response to the release of the second film before greenlighting a third film. However, it seems unlikely that the streaming service would be unwilling to complete the trilogy.
This seems especially inevitable given how well-received the original The Old Guard was. The film received a Certified Fresh score of 80 percent on Rotten Tomatoes, with a strong 70 percent rating from overall audiences. At the time of its release, it was also one of the top 10 most-watched film titles on the platform, with 72 million households streaming it during its first 28 days of release.
Even if The Old Guard 2 underperforms compared to that record, it would likely still be a strong enough result to earn a sequel. The film also boasts an impressive cast with Henry Golding and Uma Thurman joining returning stars Theron, Layne, Schoenaerts, Melling, Ngo, and Ejiofor. It seems unlikely that audiences would be disinterested in the project, even considering the three-year gap between releases.
Hamid Turanpoor
