'Havoc', The New Gareth Evans Action Movie Starring Tom Hardy, Adds Forest Whitaker To The Cast

Havoc, the new Netflix action movie from The Raid franchise director Gareth Evans, has added Forest Whitaker to its cast. Whitaker joins the previously-announced Tom Hardy in the film, which follows a detective working his way through a criminal underworld to find a politician's estranged son following a drug deal gone bad. And one can assume that this journey involves battling a lot of people in elaborate, jaw-dropping fight sequences.

Deadline has the scoop on Forest Whitaker joining the Havoc cast for director Gareth Evans. The Academy Award-winning Whitaker needs no introduction at this point – his more credits include Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, Black Panther, and the ongoing series Godfather of Harlem. He's also appeared in Bird, The Crying Game, Platoon, Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai, Good Morning, Vietnam, The Last King of Scotland, Panic Room, and, of course, Battlefield Earth, just to name a few titles.

Havoc is "set after a drug deal gone wrong, when a bruised detective must fight his way through a criminal underworld to rescue a politician's estranged son, while unraveling a deep web of corruption and conspiracy that ensnares his entire city." Tom Hardy is starring as the "bruised detective," but there's no word on Whitaker's character just yet.

Director Gareth Evans broke in with his Indonesian action pics Merantau and The Raid, with The Raid launching him to international attention. Evans's other work includes the series Gangs of London, and the films The Raid 2 and Apostle. Apostle marked Evans's first time working with Netflix, and he clearly liked the experience enough to recently sign an exclusive deal to produce and direct films for the streaming service. Evans joins a growing list of creative people singing exclusive deals with Netflix, including Noah Baumbach and David Fincher.

Evans has been working on Havoc for a while now, taking to social media to share previs work, stunt training, and shot lists. While I was a little iffy on Apostle – it felt like it was about 40 minutes too long – I'm excited about Evans returning to a straight-up action movie. And I'm equally excited about seeing Hardy lead that film, since he's one of the most interesting actors working right now. Throwing Whitaker into the mix only sweetens the deal. In short, Havoc looks like a film to watch out for. There's no release date for Havoc just yet, but it's expected to start shooting in Wales this summer.