DEATH PROOF

IN THE OLD GUARD, CHARLIZE THERON STARS AS AN IMMORTAL WARRIOR WHO HAS DEDICATED HER ETERNAL EXISTENCE TO SECRETLY RIGHTING HUMANITY'S WRONGS - UNTIL HER KING BECOME THE TARGETS. TOTAL FILM TALKS TO THERON, CO-STARS KIKI LAYNE AND CHIWETEL EJIOFOR AND DIRECTOR OINA PRINCE-BY THE WOOD ABOUT LOCKDOWN'S BIGGEST COMIC=BOOK BLOCKBUSTER...

- JORDAN FARLEY

When the story of 2020 in film is written it will be dominated by a virus that shuttered cinemas, brought the world to its knees and inspired the most awkward celebrity sing-a-long since Mamma Mia! But it should have been a very different story. This was the year that comic-book blockbusters finally afforded female filmmakers the same opportunities as their male counterparts, with Cathy Yan (Birds Of Prey), Cate Shortland (Black Widow), Chloé Zhao (The Eternals) and Patty Jenkins (Wonder Woman 1984) at the helm of the year’s biggest superpowered hitters.

Hope remains that, in most cases, their work will still make it to cinemas this year. But there’s one film that isn’t budging for the coronavirus: The Old Guard. Directed by Gina Prince-Bythewood (Love & Basketball, Beyond The Lights), the adaptation of Greg Rucka’s Image Comics series, about a team of immortal mercenaries, is standing firm for the simple reason that it’s being released by Netflix – currently the only show in town for action tentpoles.

Call it luck or the benefit of launching on a pandemic proof platform, but despite possessing no connection to the MCU or DCEU, The Old Guard is now – by default – the biggest comic-book movie hitting (small) screens at the height of the blockbuster season.