rewrite this title Dave Bautista is feeling the pressure of playing The Kurgan in the Highlander remake

Dave Bautista will be playing the Kurgan in Chad Stahelski’s upcoming Highlander remake, and the actor is feeling a little stressed about taking on the role of the iconic villain.

“No pressure at all, right? Man, I am stressed about this, because I am such a fan of the original,” Bautista told MovieWeb. “Clancy Brown was in his 20s when he was the Kurgan. I’m in my 50s. I hope I can do the world justice.“

Although Bautista will be following in the footsteps of Clancy Brown, he added that the remake will be a different beast. “It’s written very differently. But still with, like, such a huge nod, a lot of respect to the original,” he said. “Chad Stahelski didn’t want to go against the grain and make it something completely different. He wanted to keep it true to the characters, but elevate a bit, move it into current filmmaking standards, because we’re always kind of raising the bar. The characters need to go with the action in this film, and the action is super hyper elevated. It’s what John Wick did to the gun work on films.“

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Highlander remake cast grows with four new additions; production to begin in early 2026

Henry Cavill will star as Connor MacLeod, a Medieval Scottish Highlander who discovers he is an immortal warrior. With help from a swordsman named Ramirez, played by Russell Crowe, MacLeod battles other immortals across time. The cast includes Karen Gillian as MacLeod’s Scottish wife, Marisa Abela as his modern-day love interest, Djimon Hounsou as an immortal warrior from Africa, and Jeremy Irons as “the leader of a secret order called The Watchers, who are keeping an eye on the immortals and see them as a threat to humanity.“

Master Z: The Ip Man Legacy‘s Max Zhang is also on board in an undisclosed role, and WWE superstar Drew McIntyre is set to play Angus MacLeod, the brother of Cavill’s character. Kevin McKidd (Grey’s Anatomy), Siobhán Cullen (Bodkin), Jun Jong-seo (Project Y), and Nassim Lyes (Under Paris) also recently joined the cast.

Production on Highlander was supposed to begin in the fall, but Cavill was injured while training for the film. Filming is expected to resume in early 2026. Once it does pick up, the film will shoot in Scotland, England, and Hong Kong.