Back in June it was announced that Lionsgate had given the green light to a Sicario sequel entitled Soldado, which would see Sefano Sollima (Gomorra) taking over directing duties from Denis Villeneuve, and Benicio Del Toro and Josh Brolin returning to the cast. Conspicuous by her absence though was Emily Blunt, who portrayed FBI Agent Kate Macer in the first film, and now screenwriter Taylor Sheridan has revealed to The Wrap why he has left the character out of the sequel:
“That was my decision, and at some point I’m going to have to talk to her about it,” said Sheridan. “Her arc was complete…I couldn’t figure out a way to write a character that would do her talent justice. Look what she went through. It was a difficult role. Here I write this lead character and then I use her as a surrogate for the audience. I make her completely passive against her own will so the audience feels the same impotence that a lot of law enforcement officers feel, I drag her through hell, and betray her in the end. It was an arduous journey for the character, and for Emily. That character had arc.”
“What do you do next?” he continues. “She moves to some little town and becomes a sheriff and then gets kidnapped and then we have Taken? I had to tell the story that was true to this role, and I didn’t feel like I could create something with that character that would further that world that would do Emily’s character justice. That said, there could be room for Kate somewhere else down the road.”
Soldado is reportedly being eyed as the second instalment of a trilogy of movies, so as Sheridan states, perhaps we’ll get to see Blunt reprising the role in a third movie.
Originally published November 28, 2016. Updated April 16, 2018.
