After featuring in two projects in 2024 and kicking off 2025 with Flight Risk, the aviation thriller directed by Mel Gibson, it’s shaping up to be a relatively quiet year for Mark Wahlberg. However, just because he might not be appearing in any projects the rest of the year doesn’t mean he isn’t still hard at work, and one of his movies in the works just got a major update. A new report from Deadline announced that Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, who will be seen later this year in Marvel Studios’ Wonder Man, has joined Wahlberg in the cast of By Any Means. The role originally belonged to Sterling K. Brown when the film was announced in October, but he has since departed the project and been replaced by Mateen II.

By Any Means is based on the true story of a mafia hitman and a young Black special agent who were hired to complete an off-the-books job for Hoover’s FBI of hunting down the persons responsible for the 1966 Civil Rights murders in Mississippi. The script comes from Theodore Witcher and Sascha Penn, with director Elegance Bratton and Witcher working together to complete several revisions of the script before it was up to snuff. The project does not yet have an official release date, and it’s also unclear when it plans to begin filming. Bratton made his directorial debut in 2019 on Pier Kids, and he followed that up a few years later with The Inspection, the 2022 R-rated drama starring Jeremy Pope and Gabrielle Union alongside Raúl Castillo that’s streaming on Paramount+.

What Other Projects Do Mateen II and Wahlberg Have in the Works?

Mateen is best known for his role as Manta in the Jason Momoa-led Aquaman movies, and after he features in Wonder Man later this year, he’s also been tapped to star alongside Bobby Cannavale in a TV adaptation of Man on Fire, the popular Denzel Washington movie. Wahlberg is in the midst of production on Play Dirty, another crime thriller from Shane Black that also stars Dermot Mulroney, and he’ll work with Paul Walter Hauser on Balls Up. He’s also set to reprise his role as Dan Morgan in a sequel to The Family Plan, which has added Game of Thrones star Kit Harington.

By Any Means stars Mark Wahlbrg and Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, and will be written by Theodore Witcher and Sascha Penn, and directed by Elegance Bratton.