First Look At Antonio Banderas As The Villain Of Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard
Here's a chance to see the first look at Antonio Banderas playing a villain role in the upcoming The Hitman's Wife's Bodyguard
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Antonio Banderas hasn’t taken too many turns as a villain in his career. Mostly, he’s been known for handling the bad guys on his own, sometimes even vigilante style. But in his latest movie, he’s going to be the central antagonist in an anticipated sequel. We’re finally getting our first glimpse at what he’s looking like as an intimidating force in the film The Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard. Check it out:
In this scene, it looks like Antonio Banderas has the main characters in a compromised situation and there’s no surprise that he cuts the part of a high-end ne’er-do-well. There’s no confirmation about who his character actually is or the motivation for wanting to take out this trio, but those details should be coming down the pike. For now, I think we can trust he’ll lean into the part of a dude wanting to extract more than a little pain from these folks.
Joining Antonio Banderas will be the trio of Ryan Reynolds, Samuel L. Jackson, and Salma Hayek. The three reprise their roles from the first movie, The Hitman’s Bodyguard. In the original, Reynolds’ character, Michael Bryce was tasked with protecting Jackson’s Darius Kincaid as they tried to take down a war criminal. Hayek played Sonia, Kincaid’s wife who this latest movie now centers on. It appears she’s come into the crosshairs for some reason or another leading the three into more untenable situations. The trio played very well on screen in the first movie, highlighting differences in styles while also meshing fluidly on-screen.
Antonio Banderas joining the cast just adds firepower for the sequel to a somewhat surprising box office hit the first time around. The production budget was *only* around $30 million (it bumped considerably once the promotional train started rolling) but it returned more than $170 million at the box office. It didn’t fare as well with critics, but this kind of popcorn flick can be forgiven that sin. Currently, the movie is sitting at 41% Rotten Tomatoes, not terrible but not overwhelming either. Folks came for the one-liners and action sets.
Though this is one of the first looks we are getting of Antonio Banderas in the villain role, the movie has been in production for some time. The Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard was originally supposed to hit theaters in August of last summer, but like so many flicks in the timeline ran into pandemic-related delays. The new release date is tentatively scheduled for August 2021.
Along with The Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard, Antonio Banderas will also be in a bigger release this summer, joining Tom Holland and Mark Wahlberg in Uncharted, an adaptation of the video game with the same name. That’s set to hit theaters in July though it’s worked through production delays of its own, and not just of the Covid variety. This thing has been hanging around Hollywood for what seems like forever.
Catching Antonio Banderas as a villain this summer would seem to play into the actor’s core strength and I’m definitely here for it. Now we just need The Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard to actually hit the screens
