There can be only one, but the new Highlander is making room for two familiar faces from the squared circle. Drew McIntyre and Dave Bautista have both landed roles in Chad Stahelski‘s big-budget reboot of Highlander, lining up alongside Henry Cavill in one of the most anticipated action films on the horizon. For a sword-swinging saga about immortal warriors, casting a couple of wrestlers who already look carved from granite feels just about perfect.
A MacLeod, a Monster, and a Whole Lot of Muscle
Per Deadline, McIntyre will play Angus MacLeod, the brother of Cavill‘s Connor MacLeod and chieftain of Clan MacLeod. It is a meaty, character-driven part rather than a quick cameo, and it puts the Scottish Warrior in a Scottish epic, which is about as fitting as casting gets.
Bautista, meanwhile, takes on The Kurgan, the brutal, instantly iconic villain originated by Clancy Brown in the 1986 original. The reboot reunites Bautista with director Chad Stahelski‘s 87Eleven stunt and action team, the same crew behind the John Wick films, so the fight choreography should land with real weight.
Old Tag Partners, New Battlefield
This is not the first time McIntyre and Bautista have shared a call sheet. The two previously worked together on McIntyre‘s feature debut in Lionsgate’s The Killer’s Game, so there is already a working chemistry between the pair heading into Highlander. Watching two generations of WWE main-eventers cross blades on the big screen is the kind of rock-and-wrestling-meets-Hollywood moment that keeps pulling pro wrestling deeper into the pop-culture mainstream.
Bautista has long since proven he belongs on a marquee, from Guardians of the Galaxy to Dune to Blade Runner 2049. McIntyre, for his part, has made clear he is not trading one career for the other. Speaking about the role, he stressed that “WWE is my home,” signaling he plans to keep one boot in the ring even as Hollywood comes calling.
A Stacked Cast and a Director on a Roll
The reboot’s ensemble is loaded. Beyond Cavill, McIntyre, and Bautista, the film features Russell Crowe, Marisa Abela, Karen Gillan, Djimon Hounsou, Jeremy Irons, and Max Zhang. Behind the camera, Stahelski is coming off the run that turned John Wick into a modern action institution, and Highlander gives him a sprawling, centuries-spanning canvas to work with.
Principal photography began on January 28, 2026, with production rolling through Scotland and Hong Kong. Cavill gave fans a first taste at CinemaCon in April, where footage opened with the line, “I am Connor MacLeod, who was born in 1518, and I am immortal.” At the same event, Cavill noted that a 2027 release is the most realistic target for the film, so there is a wait ahead, but the pieces look promising.
Wrestling’s Hollywood Pipeline Keeps Flowing
From Dwayne Johnson to John Cena to Bautista himself, WWE has become one of the most reliable feeder systems Hollywood has. McIntyre stepping into a tentpole like Highlander while still active on WWE television is the latest sign of how blurred the line between the ring and the screen has become. When the swords finally clash, two men who learned to command a crowd in front of thousands of live fans will already know exactly how to hold a room.
Sources: Deadline, The Hollywood Reporter