What Henry Cavill Could Look Like Highlander's Connor MacLeod

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New fan art imagines what The Witcher’s Henry Cavill could look like as Connor MacLeod in the upcoming Highlander reboot. Released in 1986, the original Highlander is a fantasy-adventure film that followed the story of an immortal race of warriors down through the centuries, who were all destined to fight until the last few would meet at the Gathering and fight for the Prize. Starring Christopher Lambert as the lead character Connor MacLeod, a 16th-century Scottish highlander, and Sean Connery as his mentor Juan Sánchez-Villalobos Ramírez, the film would spawn several sequels of varying quality, two live-action spin-off series, an animated series, and an animated film.

In March 2008, Lionsgate owned Summit Entertainment announced that they had purchased the film rights to the Highlander franchise and were planning a fresh reboot of the property. After cycling through several other potential directors, including The Fast and the Furious’ Justin Lin, it would take another 8 years before John Wick co-director Chad Stahelski was tapped to helm the project. Recently, it was reported that Man of Steel’s and The Witcher’s Cavill was in final negotiations to tackle one of the film’s two lead roles.

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In response to this latest news, prolific fan artist Bosslogic has taken to Instagram and posted his take on what Cavill may look like as Connor MacLeod. Brandishing a Scottish Claymore, the traditional sword of the Scottish clansmen, Cavill looks every bit the part of the immortal warrior Connor MacLeod. Check out the original post below:

Despite poor reception to the sequels, the original Highlander remains a much-beloved property in the pop-culture landscape. Mixing classic fantasy tropes with high-action sword fighting, the initial 1986 film is an enduring classic made even better by the amazing soundtrack supplied by rock legends Queen. It is still not clear whether Cavill will be playing the same character that was first made famous by Lambert. However, he does have the acting chops to do the role justice and his sword handling experience on The Witcher is also bound to serve him well if he is cast. If the social media buzz surrounding the news of his casting is any measure, the fandom seems more than keen to welcome him to the role.

After slowly simmering away in the development pipeline for 13 years, this latest announcement of Cavill’s involvement is a good indication that the long-gestating plans for a Highlander reboot are finally getting ready to move into active production. Over the years several names have been rumored to be attached to the project, including long-running whispers of Tom Cruise being eyed to tackle Sean Connery’s role as Ramirez, but no news about the project has been as well-received as the reports of Cavill’s recent casting. However, until filming officially begins and fans finally get to see him with a sword in hand at the Gathering, Cavill still has a lot more on his plate in the immediate future, including The Witcher season 2 and the recently announced sequel to Enola Holmes.