The Old Guard 2

The Old Guard 2 is a 2025 American superhero film directed by Victoria Mahoney, from a screenplay by Greg Rucka and Sarah L. Walker, based on his comic book The Old Guard. Serving as a sequel to the first film, the film stars Charlize Theron, KiKi Layne, Matthias Schoenaerts, Marwan Kenzari, Luca Marinelli, Veronica Ngô, and Chiwetel Ejiofor reprising their roles from the first film while Henry Golding and Uma Thurman join the cast.

The Old Guard 2
Release poster
Directed by	Victoria Mahoney
Screenplay by	Greg Rucka Sarah L. Walker
Story by	Greg Rucka
Based on	The Old Guard by Greg Rucka Leandro Fernández
Produced by	David Ellison Dana Goldberg Don Granger Charlize Theron Beth Kono AJ Dix Marc Evans
Starring	Charlize Theron KiKi Layne Matthias Schoenaerts Marwan Kenzari Luca Marinelli Veronica Ngô Henry Golding Uma Thurman Chiwetel Ejiofor
Cinematography	Barry Ackroyd
Edited by	Matthew Schmidt
Music by	Steffen Thum Ruth Barrett
Production companies	Skydance Media Denver and Delilah Productions Marc Evans Productions
Distributed by	Netflix
Release date	July 2, 2025 (2025-07-02)
Running time	107 minutes[1]
Country	United States
Language	English

The Old Guard 2 was released on July 2, 2025, on Netflix and received generally mixed-to-negative reviews from critics, calling it inferior to its predecessor.

Plot

Off the coast of Rome, an iron maiden is brought up from the ocean floor. When the device is opened on the deck of the ship, it is revealed to contain Quỳnh, an immortal who has been imprisoned inside for 500 years.

Six months after Booker was sentenced to loneliness,^[a] Andy leads Joe, Nicky, Nile, and Copley to retrieve a weapons cache from a secure compound in Split. While in hiding, Nile has a dream of a woman incapacitating a person inside a library before stealing their books.

In Paris, Booker is found and abducted by Quỳnh. Andy and Copley track down a sage-immortal, Tuah, in Seoul, who has deep knowledge of immortals and is an old friend of Andy's, who revealed that he had rescued her when Quỳnh was being sealed in an iron maiden 500 years ago. He confirms that his books containing information about the immortals were stolen by Discord, who over the centuries after parting ways with Tuah, had become a highly elusive arms dealer.

Andy and Copley escort Tuah to a hideout in Rimini, where Andy receives a note from Quỳnh—via Booker after he was released from captivity—demanding to see Andy in Rome, where Quỳnh had been cast into the sea. The two have a tense reunion during which Quỳnh blames Andy for what she perceives as Andy abandoning her promise to rescue her, before Quỳnh briefly fights against Andy and retrieves her necklace.

Nile confronts Discord, who explains that she (Discord) was the first – and that Nile is the last – immortal in their world, noting their identical and connecting skin birthmarks.

Tuah theorizes that the "last immortal" has the power to take away someone's immortality whenever they injure someone. Additionally, anyone who has lost their immortality can regain their power by another wounded immortal who can transfer their power to the host they choose. The first part of the theory is confirmed when Nile grazes Booker's forearm in a spar and his wounds no longer heal; Booker insists that Tuah not reveal this to Andy.

Andy and Copley learn that Discord and Quỳnh's mercenaries have taken control of a Chinese-built and owned nuclear facility in South Tangerang and planted shaped charges inside the core, which would irradiate the area and affect millions of people should the charges explode. Despite knowing it is a trap, set up by Discord, Nile goes with Andy and her team to disarm the charges and take out the invaders inside the nuclear facility.

Everyone on Andy's team, except for Nile, Booker and Andy, are captured by Discord. During the ensuing melee, the wounded Booker successfully transfers his immortal powers to Andy, and sacrifices his life to protect her. Andy is devastated, but her immortal powers have been restored. Meanwhile, Nile confronts Quỳnh inside the reactor core and injures her, removing her regenerative healing power, before she too is captured by Discord.

After convincing the now mortal Quỳnh to release the detonator, Andy catches up to Discord and the two engage in a brutal brawl against one another. Discord reveals that she, too, has lost her immortality, and she is desperate to use Nile to regain her powers—by any means necessary. She stabs Andy in the heart, momentarily incapacitating her, and allowing Discord to flee the facility with Andy's captured comrades, proclaiming that if they meet again, she will be immortal.

After reconciling with one another, Andy and Quỳnh return to Tuah's library. There, Andy eventually vows to find Discord and save their teammates.

Cast

• Charlize Theron as Andy / Andromache of Scythia
• KiKi Layne as Nile Freeman
• Marwan Kenzari as Joe / Yusuf Al-Kaysani
• Luca Marinelli as Nicky / Nicolò di Genova
• Matthias Schoenaerts as Booker / Sébastien Le Livre
• Veronica Ngô as Quỳnh
• Chiwetel Ejiofor as James Copley
• Uma Thurman as Discord
• Henry Golding as Tuah / Hang Tuah

Production

Development

In July 2020, Greg Rucka said, "In case of sequel, break glass. It's very straightforward. You want another one? Here's a way to get into it".^[2] In the same month, Charlize Theron had expressed her interest in a second film, saying: "Let's have a little resting period, but just given the fact that all of us really want to do it, I'm sure when it's the right time, we'll start the conversation."^[3][4]

It was reported on January 27, 2021, that Netflix had greenlit a sequel.^[5] On August 26, it was announced that Victoria Mahoney would direct the sequel, taking over for The Old Guard's original director Gina Prince-Bythewood who was busy with another project. Theron, KiKi Layne, Marwan Kenzari, Luca Marinelli, Matthias Schoenaerts, Vân Veronica Ngô, and Chiwetel Ejiofor were cast to reprise their respective roles from the first film.^[5] In June 2022, Uma Thurman and Henry Golding were cast in undisclosed roles, while Greg Rucka was confirmed to have written the script for producers David Ellison, Dana Goldberg, Don Granger, Theron, Beth Kono, AJ Dix, Marc Evans, and Prince-Bythewood.^[6]

Filming

Principal photography began in June 2022 in Italy.^[7] Some filming took place at the Italian Cinecittà Studios. In August 2022, the film's set caught fire while it was being dismantled, causing production to be delayed.^[8][9] Additional filming took place in the United Kingdom. Filming was completed in September 2022.^[7]

Post-production

In July 2024, Theron said that the film was shut down five weeks into its post-production due to regime changes at Netflix, but has since been completed and will be released "soon".^[10] In August 2024, the Union of British Columbia Performers listed the film as being scheduled for two weeks of additional photography from October 7 to October 18, 2024.^[11] Matthew Schmidt serves as the editor.^[12]

Music

By January 2023, Max Aruj and Ruth Barrett composed the film's score, replacing Volker Bertelmann and Dustin O'Halloran from the first film before Aruj was replaced as composing partner by Steffen Thum.^[13]

Release

The Old Guard 2 was released on Netflix on July 2, 2025.^[14]

Reception

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 23% of 83 critics' reviews are positive. The website's consensus reads: "Bogged down by tedious lore and lackluster execution, The Old Guard 2 finds this budding franchise already long in the tooth."^[15] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 44 out of 100, based on 22 critics, indicating "mixed or average" reviews.^[16]

Notes

1. As depicted in the first film.