‘Highlander’: Dave Bautista Joins Henry Cavill led Reboot!!

Dave Bautista is bringing the 1980s back, one action franchise at a time. He’s now set to star in two major revivals of ’80s VHS action classics from Amazon MGM Studios. He’s said to be close to signing on for Road House 2, the sequel to the Jake Gyllenhaal-led remake of the Patrick Swayze brawler, and will also star in Chad Stahelski‘s revival of the immortal Highlander franchise. Bautista is said to be playing the role of the villainous Kurgan in the latter.

According to reports, Bautista is circling both roles, and is expected to sign both, but has not yet officially put pen to paper. In Road House 2, he’ll be joining Gyllenhaal, who starred as UFC fighter turned bouncer Dalton in the Doug Liman-directed remake in 2024. Guy Ritchie was originally set to helm the sequel, but dropped out last month; Ilya Naishuller (Hardcore Henry, Nobody) has stepped in to steer the film. Meanwhile, John Wick action maven Stahelski is set to revive Highlander, with Henry Cavill in the lead as undying Scotsman MacLeod; it will also star Russell Crowe as his mentor, Ramirez, and Industry‘s Marisa Abela as one of the female leads.

Who Is The Kurgan in ‘Highlander’?

Memorably played by the towering, glowering Clancy Brown in 1986’s Highlander, the Kurgan was born over a thousand years before the birth of Christ; he was a member of a Russian tribe renowned for its brutality. By the 16th century, he was working as a mercenary, armed with a massive sword and armored with a menacing bear skull atop his head. That’s where he first meets MacLeod (Christopher Lambert) on the field of battle; the two would meet several times over the intervening centuries, becoming archenemies when the Kurgan slew Macleod’s mentor, Ramirez (Sean Connery). They met for a final time in 1980s New York City, as the immortals prepared for the Gathering, in which they would all duel for the right to be the last of their kind. MacLeod and the Kurgan met in battle one final time, and the barbarian was finally slain, letting MacLeod claim the Prize: mortality.

Ex-wrestler Bautista has a busy slate of films on the horizon. He cameos in The Naked Gun, which is currently in theaters, and later this year will star in the actioner Trap House with Sophia Lillis. Coming up, he’s set to star in the post-apocalyptic Afterburn with Samuel L. Jackson; the buddy cop picture The Wrecking Crew, with Jason Momoa; and the science fiction comedy Alpha Gang with Cate Blanchett. He will also voice the villain in the animated feature The Legend of Aang: The Last Airbender.