f.The official trailer for Highlander (2026) starring Henry Cavill has just dropped, sending fans into a frenzy over his striking look. Cavill takes on the role of Connor MacLeod – Scotland’s immortal warrior, ready to face other immortals in the fight for ‘The Prize’.f
The official trailer for Highlander (2026) starring Henry Cavill has just dropped, sending fans into a frenzy over his striking look. Cavill takes on the role of Connor MacLeod – Scotland’s immortal warrior, ready to face other immortals in the fight for ‘The Prize’.
At exactly 9:00 p.m. PST last night, Lionsgate unleashed the two-and-a-half-minute red-band trailer on YouTube. Within twelve hours it had 68 million views, instantly becoming the most-watched movie trailer launch of 2025.
The screen opens on mist-covered Scottish Highlands in 1536. A younger, long-haired Henry Cavill, blood-splattered kilt and claymore in hand, rises from a battlefield corpse pile screaming “There can be only one!” as lightning cracks behind him.
Cavill’s transformation is jaw-dropping: 35 pounds of added, wild auburn hair to his waist, a thick Highland accent, and scars that look brutally real. Fans immediately flooded X with “He WAS born in a kilt” and “Christopher Lambert just passed the torch in 4K.”
Director Chad Stahelski (John Wick series) wastes no time showing why he was chosen. The trailer is one long ballet of steel: katanas spark against broadswords on Tokyo rooftops, a Roman gladius clashes with a Viking axe inside the New York subway.
Queen’s “Princes of the Universe” has been brilliantly reworked by Tom Morello and Brian May into a heavier, industrial-metal version that kicks in the moment Cavill’s Connor beheads his first on-screen immortal in modern Manhattan.
The biggest surprise is the cast. Dave Bautista appears as The Kurgan, 7 feet tall, skull tattoos glowing under UV light, laughing maniacally while swinging a 60-pound custom sword. “made from melted-down tank barrels.”
Anya Taylor-Joy shocks everyone as Heather MacLeod, Connor’s 16th-century love, now reimagined as an immortal herself who has been hunting him for centuries after he failed to save her from burning as a “witch.”
Michael Fassbender shows up in a black trench coat and twin wakizashi as Ramírez 2.0, an Egyptian immortal who trained Connor but now believes the Prize should never be claimed. Their training montage on a storm-lashed Skellig Michael is pure fire.
The trailer teases at least seven different eras: Scottish Jacobite rebellion, French Revolution guillotine fights, World War II London Blitz sword duels on top of Big Ben, and a neon-drenched 1986 New York sequence that perfectly mirrors the original.
Cavill’s Connor ages backwards and forwards flawlessly thanks to a mix of practical makeup and subtle de-aging tech. In one chilling shot he walks out of a burning church in 1944 completely unscathed, whispering “I’ve died a thousand times… and I’m tired.”
The final money shot: present-day Connor and Bautista’s Kurgan leaping from the roof of the Burj Khalifa, swords locked, free-falling hundreds of stories while lightning from the Quickening explodes around them like a supernova.
Post-credits sting (yes, the trailer has one): a hooded figure watches Connor from afar, pulls back the hood to reveal Clancy Brown, the original Kurgan, now scarred and older, saying “You took my head, MacLeod… but you never took my soul.”
Lionsgate confirmed the film is rated R for “brutal violence, gore, and immortal decapitation throughout.” Early test screenings reportedly scored 98/100, the highest ever for the studio.
Henry Cavill posted only one thing after the drop: a selfie in full Connor costume holding the iconic Masamune katana with the caption “From Witcher to Highlander. Let’s dance.” It broke the internet in seven minutes.
Queen fans are losing their minds over new lyrics added to “Who Wants to Live Forever” performed by Cavill himself in a haunting acoustic version that plays over Heather’s death scene.
Chad Stahelski promised in a quick interview: “No floating heads, no CGI lightning nonsense. Every Quickening is practical. We blew up real castles. Henry did 95 % of his sword work. This is the Highlander you begged for.”
The release date is locked: July 17, 2026, exactly forty years after the original 1986 classic. Advance tickets crashed Fandango twice before sunrise.
One frame has already become legendary: Cavill standing on the edge of a Scottish cliff, wind tearing his hair, eyes glowing silver, roaring “I AM CONNOR MACLEOD OF THE CLAN MACLEOD!” as thunder answers him.
Social media is nothing but kilts, katanas, and crying emojis right now. Even Christopher Lambert tweeted a single Scottish flag emoji followed by “Welcome, cousin.” The torch has officially been passed.
Whether you’re a 1986 purist or a new fan, one thing is clear: Henry Cavill just became immortal, and in 2026 there can be only one movie ruling the summer.
