Immortals franchises just won’t die

Love to see movies with badass sword fights where the protagonist literally cannot die? Netflix has you covered with the 2020 hit Old Guard, a movie where an immortal group of mercenaries operate from the shadows to protect humanity. Charlize Theron stars as Andromache (Andy), the head of the mercenary group that welcomes a new member into their ranks and must fight against a pharmaceutical company that discovers their secret and wants them captured.

Old Guard was a hit, prompting the streaming behemoth to order a sequel, whose trailer just dropped. As Andy and her group continue to work protecting humanity, a new threat arises in the form of Uma Thurman, an immortal whose intentions are far from noble.

While Old Guard was a fine movie, I’m afraid that when it comes to immortal beings battling it out with swords, there is one franchise that looms high above the rest and sets the tone for all who follow. I’m sorry, Old Guard, but it is, as that movie’s tagline says: There can be only one.

The Highlander is a 1986 fantasy film starring Christopher Lambert and, despite what you might think judging by its enduring cult status, was a commercial failure. As luck would have it, though, as Old Guard drops its trailer, a new version of The Highlander started shooting in the Scottish highlands.

Starring fan favourite, certified nerd and all round beefcake Henry Cavilll and directed by Chad Stahelski (John Wick), this version of The Highlander seems to have unlocked the secret sauce and if all indications are to be believed, this will be the next big thing in the fantasy genre.

Ironically, this franchise about immortals just won’t die.

The premise of the films is simple: immortal beings walk among us, unseen and unnoticed. They are eternally drawn to another, forced by an unseen force to kill each other by beheading, so in the end, there can be only one.

Connor MacLeod is the titular Highlander, a Scottish warrior who meets the business end of a sword and dies in a field of battle sometime in the 16th century, as men are known to do. Unlike others, though, Connor wakes up the next day having made a miraculous recovery. Exiled, distraught and looking for answers, Connor does what every Scottish person did in the 80s: randomly stumble upon Sean Connery.

The actor played the flamboyant Ramirez, a Spaniard immortal who takes Connor under his wing and teaches him everything there is to know about immortals and the Game.

Connor will need all the help he can get as he is chased by a brutal immortal, played marvellously by the amazing Clancy Brown.

As it befits all mentors who are there just to provide exposition and serve as a sentimental catalyst for the noble protagonist, Connery dies (or diesh, depending on your humour level) and MacLeod leaves Scotland only to reemerge centuries afterwards.

As MacLeod triumphs over his long-time opponent, he truly becomes the last one. Roll credits, exit the cinema, we are done.

Highlander II: The Quickening might not be the least successful sequel ever, but it sure is the most baffling. The movie tries to explain the origin of the immortal beings and thus resorts to everyone’s favourite thing during the 80s: aliens.

Yup. Someone, somewhere, thought that what this fantasy movie needed was aliens. So Connor comes from the planet Zeist thrown here to battle and rule among humans. The sequel is set in the dystopian future of 2024 (yes, you are THAT old) where we see that the non-ageing, all-powerful immortal being is now old, mortal and powerless. In this future, MacLeod created a shield around the Earth to protect it from the diminishing ozone layer and is pulled back into action when a fellow alien comes to kill him. The presence of another alien invigorates MacLeod, who brings his old mentor Sean Connery back from the dead, thus pretty much negating the whole concept of the movie.

It is rambling, incoherent and at points incomprehensible. It bombed, and while it would seem all hope was lost, a third film completed the trilogy. Highlander III: The Sorcerer came out in 1994 and pretty much acted like the second film never existed, as one should. This time, MacLeod is pitted against another immortal who missed the first round of eliminations by accidentally being trapped, thus revealing the Highlander’s true weakness: loopholes.

It performed better than its predecessor, but not good enough to rekindle interest in the franchise. But where the film failed, TV thrived. The Highlander series that came afterwards was moderately successful, spanning six seasons, featuring another MacLeod clansman (nepo babies, ugh) called Duncan MacLeod.

Which brings us to today. Can Cavilll do the character justice? Can he reignite interest in a franchise that tried its best to be successful but never quite got there? Remains to be seen. I’m keeping my fingers crossed and hoping, really hoping, that this one has no aliens in it.