The Denzel Washington Action Thriller With A Much Darker Ending
The Equalizer 3 was a modest hit when it premiered in theaters, and it’s gained more fans than ever now that it’s streaming on Netflix. Those fans got to see Denzel Washington end his signature action series in style. And his Robert McCall character ends the film celebrating a soccer victory with his fellow Alamonte residents.
There was almost a much darker and bleaker ending to The Equalizer franchise
It’s an unambiguously happy ending, but as you can see from the deleted scene below, we almost got a much darker and bleaker ending to this venerable action franchise.
The deleted scene for The Equalizer 3 is meant to take place immediately after Denzel Washington’s character has brutally killed Vincent Quaranta by forcing him to take a lethal dose of the same drugs he had been smuggling into the area.
We see Denzel Washington as Robert McCall then walking down a dark alley when a young man confronts him with a gun. The would-be thug immediately drops the gun when McCall looks at him, but we then see our hero click his stopwatch before the screen fades to black, which highly implies that he dealt his signature brand of fatal justice to his attacker.
It’s not hard to see why director Antoine Fuqua decided to remove the scene.
It’s an interesting Denzel Washington scene, especially for superfans of The Equalizer 3, but it’s not hard to see why director Antoine Fuqua decided to remove the scene.
For one thing, it creates a much bleaker ending that seems to imply that Robert McCall will never be able to leave violence behind and have the peaceful life he has longed for.
By contrast, the original ending gives us a happy ending while also providing solid closure for the character made famous by Denzel Washington.
Another reason to ditch this alternative ending to The Equalizer 3 has to do with the identity of the young assailant. Earlier in the film, we see that Vincent’s brother has recruited him into their little crime family.
Showing Robert McCall having one last showdown with a member of that criminal family effectively undercuts the ending and makes McCall’s victory hollow and meaningless: Robert McCall’s victory means nothing because the reach and influence of Vincent extends even beyond the grave.
Fuqua has previously clarified that he wanted to go out of his way to give The Equalizer 3 a happy ending, and the one we got certainly feels like something the film has been building up to.
Fuqua has previously clarified that he wanted to go out of his way to give The Equalizer 3 a happy ending
We see McCall slowly becoming part of the community by becoming friends with a local doctor and even getting a bit flirty with a waitress. Showing him happily celebrating a local soccer victory helps cement the idea that he has become a part of this community in a way that his fighting yet another thug never would.
Between the two endings, we’re very happy that The Equalizer 3 went with the happy and peaceful one. It’s always nice to see Denzel Washington kicking butt, but after seeing that for an entire trilogy of films, one more meaningless battle would have felt downright exhausting.
And after seeing John Wick 4, we were just happy to see one of our modern action heroes enjoy a quiet life rather than going out in a blaze of glory.
