An immortal hero only holds interest if they’re pitted against an immortal villain who personifies pure evil. At least for the original 1986 Highlander, the film’s central plot hinges on Connor MacLeod (Christopher Lambert) being unable to let the wicked Kurgan (Clancy Brown) become the last immortal standing. “If he wins the prize, mortal men would suffer an eternity of darkness,” Ramirez (Sean Connery) tells Connor in the original movie.
Four decades after the first film, Dave Bautista is reviving the Kurgan for , with hints suggesting this version of the “perfect warrior” will diverge slightly from Clancy Brown’s psychopathic portrayal in the classic.
Though these , the images show Bautista in what appears to be a priest’s frock, hinting the Kurgan might be hiding out in a church at some point in the movie. If this is a plot point, it seems to invert an infamous 1986 scene where the Kurgan and Connor have a tense conversation before their final battle in New York City.
Per Highlander tradition, sword fights are forbidden on holy ground—so in the classic movie, Connor and the Kurgan could speak frankly without drawing their weapons. If Bautista’s new Kurgan is working as a priest, it could add a fresh twist to the character’s nature. There’s basically no chance the Kurgan is good in this film, but he might abuse the holy ground rule to be even more evil than the classic take.
In 1986, the Kurgan was a straightforward, unsubtle baddie in Highlander. He openly assaulted people and murdered for pleasure. That version would almost certainly never pretend to be a priest to ambush someone; he was an outward monster, a brute who’d kick anyone’s ass or frighten them just by looking.
Bautista definitely has the brawn to pull off that kind of menace, but it’ll be interesting to see what tone Chad Stahelski takes with the new Kurgan. Will he be a broadsword-swinging savage? Or someone a bit craftier?
Either way, like casting Henry Cavill as Conor, Bautista is physically perfect for the role—he’s played brutes before, like Mr. Hinx in the James Bond movie Spectre. But these set photos might suggest this Kurgan is a little more complex. Or at the very least, craftier than he was in 1986.