‘Highlander’: Henry Cavill Reboot Rounds Out Cast With Djimon Hounsou & ‘The Grandmaster’ Actor Max Zhang

Chad Stahelski‘s “Highlander” reboot at Amazon MGM Studios, and United Artists has added two more action heavyweights to the cast with Djimon Hounsou and Chinese action star Max Zhang.

Deadline and The Hollywood Reporter respectively revealed those two casting updates as the pair will join Henry Cavill (“Mission: Impossible – Fallout,” “Man of Steel”), Russell Crowe (“Gladiator”), Dave Bautista (“Dune,” “Guardians of the Galaxy”), Karen Gillan (“Guardians of the Galaxy”), and on-the-rise actress Marisa Abela (“Black Bag,” “Industry”).

READ MORE: Jason Momoa & David Leitch Teaming For High-Seas Action Flick ‘The Pirate’ At Amazon MGM Studios

Hounsou, of course, has had a long career making action movies, appearing in projects like “Gladiator,” “Blood Diamond,” “The King’s Man,” “Guardians of the Galaxy,” “Furious 7,” “The Island,” and more recently with Zack Snyder‘s “Rebel Moon” movies. We have to imagine that Hounsou is being tapped to play a version of fellow good-guy immortal Sunda Kastagir, previously played by “Star Wars: The Phantom Menace” actor Hugh Quarshie in the original 1986 version. An extremely cool supporting character, who was quickly dispatched by The Kurgan (the film’s main baddie) in a back-alley duel.

The casting of Zhang could be as much of a highlight as Donnie Yen (funny enough, had a role in the previous iteration of the “Highlander” franchise) in “John Wick 4,” as the two actors played off each other in “IP Man 3,” with an award-winning role in Wong Kar-Wai‘s period action drama “The Grandmaster.”

“Highlander” focuses on a collective of sword-wielding immortals who fight each other for the prize, the ability to live a mortal life; others kill to increase their strength and speed through The Quickening, absorbing the power of slain immortals.

Other projects on the horizon for Stahelski include a gestating “John Wick 5” starring Keanu Reeves, producing Yen’s Hong Kong-set “Wick” spinoff “Caine,” and is still attached to helm Michael B. Jordan‘s “Rainbow Six,” set in the “Jack Ryan” universe.

Cameras are expected to begin rolling on “Highlander” later this month, a huge relief for everyone involved, as it didn’t exactly look like Lionsgate saw the reboot as a priority before being acquired by Amazon. It’s taken decades to get to this point.