| The Old Guard 2 | |
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 Release poster | |
| Directed by | Victoria Mahoney |
| Screenplay by | |
| Story by | Greg Rucka |
| Based on | |
| Produced by |
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| Starring | |
| Cinematography | Barry Ackroyd |
| Edited by | Matthew Schmidt |
| Music by | |
Production companies |
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| Distributed by | Netflix |
Release date |
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Running time | 107 minutes[1] |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
The Old Guard 2 is a 2025 Americansuperhero film directed byVictoria Mahoney, from a screenplay byGreg Rucka andSarah L. Walker, based on the comic bookThe Old Guard by Rucka andLeandro Fernández. Serving as a sequel to thefirst film, the film starsCharlize Theron,KiKi Layne,Matthias Schoenaerts,Marwan Kenzari,Luca Marinelli,Veronica Ngô, andChiwetel Ejiofor reprising their roles from the first film whileHenry Golding andUma Thurman join the cast.
The Old Guard 2 was released on July 2, 2025, onNetflix and received generally mixed-to-negative reviews from critics, calling it inferior to its predecessor. The film was the final film to be produced by Skydance before its merger withParamount Global.
Off the coast ofRome, Italy, aniron 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 inSplit. While in hiding, Nile has a dream of a woman incapacitating a person inside a library before stealing books.
InParis, Booker is found and abducted by Quỳnh. Andy and Copley track down a sage-immortal,Tuah, inSeoul, who has deep knowledge of immortals and is an old friend of Andy's. It is revealed that Tuah rescued Andy after Quỳnh was sealed and drowned in an iron maiden 500 years ago. Tuah confirms that the books containing information about every immortal were stolen by another immortal named 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 inRimini, where Andy receives a note from Quỳnh—via Booker after Booker was released from captivity—demanding to see Andy inRome, where Quỳnh had been cast into the sea. Andy and Quỳnh have a tense reunion during which Quỳnh blames Andy for abandoning her, before Quỳnh briefly fights against Andy and retrieves a necklace.
Nile confronts Discord, who explains that Discord was the first immortal and that Nile is the last immortal, noting their identical birthmarks.
Tuah theorizes that the "last immortal" has the power to take away someone's immortality whenever they injure an immortal. Additionally, anyone who has lost their immortality can regain their immortality from another wounded immortal who can transfer their immortality. The first part of the theory is confirmed when Nile grazes Booker's forearm in aspar and Booker's 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 ownednuclear facility inSouth Tangerang and plantedshaped charges inside the core, which wouldirradiate the area and affect millions of people should the charges explode. Despite knowing it is a trap, set up by Discord, Andy's team go 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 the immortality to Andy, and sacrifices his life to protect Andy. Andy is devastated, but her immortality has been restored. Meanwhile, Nile confronts and injures Quỳnh inside the reactor core, removing Quỳnh's regenerative healing power, before Nile 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 brawl. Discord is revealed to have lost her immortality and plans to use Nile to regain it. Discord stabs Andy in the heart, momentarily incapacitating Andy, allowing Discord to flee the facility with Andy's captured comrades, and proclaims that if they meet again, Discord will be immortal.
Andy takes Quỳnh back to Tuah's library and helps Quỳnh recover from her wounds. There, Andy and Quỳnh vow to find Discord together and save the other Immortals.
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, thatNetflix had greenlit a sequel.[5] On August 26, it was announced thatVictoria Mahoney would direct the sequel, taking over for The Old Guard's original directorGina Prince-Bythewood who was busy with another project. Theron,KiKi Layne,Marwan Kenzari,Luca Marinelli,Matthias Schoenaerts,Vân Veronica Ngô, andChiwetel Ejiofor were cast to reprise their respective roles from the first film.[5] In June 2022,Uma Thurman andHenry Golding were cast in undisclosed roles, while Greg Rucka was confirmed to have written the script for producersDavid Ellison, Dana Goldberg,Don Granger, Theron, Beth Kono, AJ Dix,Marc Evans, and Prince-Bythewood.[6]
Principal photography began in June 2022 in Italy.[7] Some filming took place at the ItalianCinecittà 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]
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, theUnion of British Columbia Performers listed the film as being scheduled for two weeks ofadditional photography from October 7 to October 18, 2024.[11]Matthew Schmidt serves as the editor.[12]
By January 2023, Max Aruj andRuth Barrett composed the film's score, replacingVolker Bertelmann andDustin O'Halloran from the first film before Aruj was replaced as composing partner bySteffen Thum.[13]
The Old Guard 2 was released on Netflix on July 2, 2025.[14]
On thereview aggregator websiteRotten Tomatoes, 27% of 109 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 aweighted average, assigned the film a score of 44 out of 100, based on 22 critics, indicating "mixed or average" reviews.[16]
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