First Look at Dave Bautista as The Kurgan in Chad Stahelski’s Highlander Revealed

The first look at Guardians of the Galaxy star Dave Bautista as the villainous Kurgan, spotted on the set of Chad Stahelski‘s Highlander reboot, has been leaked online while filming at Westminster Abbey in London.

On X, user UnBoxPHD shared some images from the Highlander set. The photos feature Bautista’s Kurgan filming an action scene with Henry Cavill’s Connor MacLeod.

In the images, Bautista wears a long, battle-worn dark coat, along with longer hair and a thick beard, giving him a fierce and intimidating look as The Kurgan. Meanwhile, Cavill, as Connor MacLeod, wears a leather jacket and hoodie.

The Kurgan is the main villain in the 1986 film Highlander. He is a ruthless, ancient immortal who survives by beheading other immortals and absorbing their power through a process called “The Quickening.”

In an interview before filming began, Bautista said he feels a little stressed about taking on the role of the Kurgan. “No pressure at all, right? Man, I am stressed about this, because I am such a fan of the original,” Bautista said. “Clancy Brown was in his 20s when he was the Kurgan. I’m in my 50s. I hope I can do it justice.”

“It’s written very differently, but still with such a huge nod and a lot of respect to the original,” Bautista added. “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 it a bit and move it into current filmmaking standards, because we’re always kind of raising the bar. The characters need to match the action in this film, and the action is super hyper-elevated. It’s what John Wick did to gun work in films.”

Here are the plot details for Highlander:

“Centuries after his first death on a Scottish battlefield, immortal warrior Connor MacLeod (Henry Cavill) lives quietly in the modern world, haunted by loss and the endless cycle of violence among his kind. When the ruthless immortal Kurgan resurfaces—backed by a secret organization bent on unlocking the secret of eternal life—Connor is forced back into the Game, an ancient battle where ‘there can be only one.’”

The film is directed by Stahelski from a screenplay by Kerry Williamson and Mike Finch, with Neal H. Moritz, Peter Davis, David Leitch, Chad Stahelski, Joshua Davis, Louise Rosner, Scott Stuber, and Nick Nesbitt serving as producers.

The film stars Cavill as Connor MacLeod, alongside Russell Crowe as Juan Sánchez-Villalobos Ramírez, Dave Bautista as the Kurgan, Karen Gillan as Heather MacLeod, Djimon Hounsou as Sunda Kastagir, Drew McIntyre as Angus MacLeod, and Jeremy Irons as the leader of the Watchers, with additional cast members including Marisa Abela, Max Zhang, Siobhán Cullen, Jeon Jong-seo, Nassim Lyes, and Kevin McKidd.

During the 2024 CinemaCon, speaking to THR, Cavill said that he has started training for the Highlander reboot. Cavill said, “I am a lover of the original movies, for better or worse.” He added, “It’s one of those things where, reading the script, I wasn’t quite sure where they were going to go.” What he discovered is that Stahelski and the team are “going deep into the meaning of these characters, their trials and tribulations.” Cavill concluded, “If you think you’ve seen me do sword work before, you haven’t seen anything yet.”

Highlander will be released by Amazon MGM Studios under the United Artists banner in theaters in 2026.