Sicario sequel director reveals new film is second part of anthology

Sicario sequel Soldado won’t take a traditional route, director Stefano Sollima revealed Wednesday. The 2015 crime thriller’s follow-up will instead serve as the second installment of a three-part anthology, acting as more of a standalone film than a true sequel.

“[It’s a] completely different story with just two of the characters that you met in Sicario,” Sollima told the Independent. “The antagonists are now absolutely the main characters.”

This means focus will be flipped toward hitman Alejandro Gillick (Benecio del Toro) and CIA agent Matt Graver (Josh Brolin). As previously reported, Emily Blunt, who led Sicario as FBI agent Kate Macer, will not return. She’s next set to star as the titular Mary Poppins in Mary Poppins Returns.

The original film followed a team of government officials enlisted to take down an illicit Mexican drug cartel, though little has been revealed about where Soldado‘s plot will pick up. Writer Tyler Sheridan told EW last year that he was “very intrigued” by del Toro’s Alejandro, and felt there was much left unsaid about the character’s journey.

“One of the things [Soldado] touches on is everyone is offered choices in life: do what feels good or do what is good,” Sheridan said of Alejandro’s storyline. “You make the wrong choice enough, and then it’s not presented again. Then every choice is bad, and each consequence worse. You fall down this rabbit hole where no matter what you do, suffering is on either side.”

No further details have been announced for Soldado. Sollima will debut his upcoming mob drama Suburra on June 26, while original Sicario director Denis Villeneuve is currently at work on Blade Runner 2 with Ryan Gosling, Harrison Ford, and House of Cards‘ Robin Wright.