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The Old Guard 2

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The Old Guard 2
Release poster
Directed byVictoria Mahoney
Screenplay by
Story byGreg Rucka
Based on
Produced by
Starring
CinematographyBarry Ackroyd
Edited byMatthew Schmidt
Music by
Production
companies
Distributed byNetflix
Release date
  • July 2, 2025 (2025-07-02)
Running time
107 minutes[1]
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

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 was released on July 2, 2025, on Netflix.

Plot

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Quỳnh, Andy's former immortal teammate and lover, was retrieved by Discord, the first immortal, from the ocean floor after she was previously sealed in an iron maiden and buried underwater, constantly drowning and reviving in isolation for centuries. Six months following the events of the first film, 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, who was previously sentenced to loneliness and is in exile, was 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 hers, 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 she receives a note from Quỳnh via Booker after he was released from her captivity, demanding to see her in Rome, where she was cast in the sea. The two have a tense reunion where 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 is the first – and Nile is her last – immortal in their world, noting of 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. His theory is confirmed when Nile grazes Booker's forearm in a spar and his wounds no longer heal; Booker insists on not revealing the information 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 it 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, save for Nile, Booker, and Andy, are captured by Discord. Booker, after noticing that Andy's immortal powers have been restored, sacrifices his life to protect Andy, devastating her. Nile confronts Quỳnh inside the reactor core and injures her, removing her regenerative healing power, before she too is impaled and captured by Discord.

After convincing the now mortal Quỳnh to release the detonator, she catches up to Discord and has a brutal brawl against one another. Discord reveals that she had lost her immortality at some point, and she is desperate to use Nile so she can regain her power by any means necessary. She stabs Andy in the heart, incapacitating her, and allowing Discord to flee the facility with Andy's captured comrades, proclaiming that if she meets again, she will be immortal.

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

Cast

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Production

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Development

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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

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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

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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

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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

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

Reception

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On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 25% of 64 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 46 out of 100, based on 20 critics, indicating "mixed or average" reviews.[16]

References

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  1. ^ "The Old Guard 2 (15)". British Board of Film Classification. July 1, 2025. Retrieved July 2, 2025.
  2. ^ Polo, Susana (July 10, 2020). "Netflix's Old Guard ends with setup for a devastating sequel, says the comic's creator". Polygon. Archived from the original on July 12, 2020. Retrieved March 21, 2022.
  3. ^ D'Alessandro, Anthony (July 17, 2020). "Charlize Theron Netflix Movie 'The Old Guard' Heading To 72M Households To Rank Among Streamer's 10 Most Popular Pics". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on December 25, 2020. Retrieved March 21, 2022.
  4. ^ Barnhardt, Adam (July 21, 2020). "The Old Guard: Charlize Theron Confirms Cast Hopes to Make a Sequel tomorrow". ComicBook.com. Archived from the original on December 25, 2020. Retrieved March 21, 2022.
  5. ^ a b Kroll, Justin (August 26, 2021). "The Old Guard 2: Netflix And Skydance Tap Victoria Mahoney To Direct Next Installment As Charlize Theron And KiKi Layne Close Deals To Return". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on August 26, 2021. Retrieved March 21, 2022.
  6. ^ Kit, Borys (June 10, 2022). "Uma Thurman, Henry Golding Join Charlize Theron in 'The Old Guard 2'". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on June 18, 2022. Retrieved June 10, 2022.
  7. ^ a b Rajput, Priyanca (September 23, 2022). "Netflix's The Old Guard 2 wraps filming in Rome". KFTV.com. Archived from the original on September 23, 2022. Retrieved September 30, 2022.
  8. ^ "Fire destroys part of Rome's Cinecitta studios where Charlize Theron is filming The Old Guard sequel". RTÉ. August 2, 2022. Archived from the original on September 20, 2022. Retrieved September 18, 2022.
  9. ^ Goodfellow, Melanie (August 2, 2022). "Fire Breaks Out At Italy's Cinecittà; Destroys Part Of Renaissance Florence Set; Briefly Disrupts Netflix's Old Guard 2 Shoot". Deadline. Archived from the original on September 20, 2022. Retrieved September 18, 2022.
  10. ^ Malkin, Marc (July 17, 2024). "Charlize Theron Says 'Old Guard 2' Post-Production Got 'Shut Down' by Netflix, but the Sequel Will Come Out 'Soon': 'I Really Love This Movie'". Variety. Retrieved July 19, 2024.
  11. ^ Moore, Kasey (September 2, 2024). "'The Old Guard 2' Sets Additional Filming For October 2024". What's New on Netflix. Retrieved October 4, 2024.
  12. ^ "Matthew Schmidt" (PDF). Independent Artist Group. Retrieved December 3, 2024.
  13. ^ "Max Aruj & Ruth Barrett to Score Victoria Mahoney's 'The Old Guard 2'". Film Music Reporter. January 4, 2023. Retrieved January 12, 2023.
  14. ^ D'Alessandro, Anthony (January 30, 2025). "Netflix 2025 Movie Slate: Dates For Guillermo Del Toro's 'Frankenstein', 'Old Guard 2', Ben Affleck & Matt Damon's 'RIP', 'Wake Up Dead Man: Knives Out Mystery' & More". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved January 30, 2025.
  15. ^ "The Old Guard 2". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved July 4, 2025.
  16. ^ "The Old Guard 2". Metacritic. Fandom, Inc. Retrieved July 3, 2025.
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