The Old Guard 2 Recruits A New Director With Star Wars Veteran Victoria Mahoney

"The Old Guard 2" has found its director. Victoria Mahoney, who became the first woman and the first Black woman to direct on a "Star Wars" film when she served as the second-unit director on J.J. Abrams' "Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker," will helm the sequel to "The Old Guard," Netflix's 2020 action film which starred Charlize Theron as an immortal warrior. Deadline reports that Theron, KiKi Layne, Matthias Schoenaerts, Marwan Kenzari, Luca Marinelli, Veronica Ngo, and Chiwetel Ejiofor will all return to reprise their roles. Greg Rucka – who wrote the first film and the comic on which this franchise is based – has already completed the screenplay for this follow-up.

Mahoney takes over the director's chair from Gina Prince-Bythewood, who directed the original movie but will only produce this sequel. Deadline says Prince-Bythewood has gotten several new jobs in the wake of her work on the first film, and she released a statement commenting about passing the torch: 

"I love The Old Guard and the story and characters I was honored to put into the world. It was exciting to disrupt the genre. I have decided not to direct the sequel, but will stay on as a producer. I leave our franchise in good hands as my girl Vic Mahoney takes on this next chapter."

Mahoney previously directed episodes of TV shows like "Lovecraft Country," "Grey's Anatomy," "Queen Sugar," "You," "Power," and "I Am the Night." She released a statement of her own, expressing awe at the opportunity to step into this cinematic world:

"Genuinely blown backwards by the collective levels of talent, skill and savvy that went into carving The Old Guard. I must've watched it over a hundred times, and as such, cannot communicate the true measure of my excitement–being invited on The Old Guard journey alongside ferocious badasses. Ever eager to continue pushing the genre for action-loving audiences. Warmly tipping my hat to the world Gina, Charlize, Rucka, Fernández, Skydance, Netflix, Marc Evans Productions, Denver & Delilah Films and the entire Team daringly put forward."

The first film left off with a big cliffhanger. (Spoilers ahead.) In a post-credits scene, we learn that Quynh (Veronica Ngo), the former romantic partner of Andromache (Theron), has somehow escaped from her horrific fate of being buried alive in a tomb in the bottom of the ocean, where she was forced to repeat a cycle of resurrection and immediate drowning for hundreds of years. That kind of experience probably leaves some psychological scars, and I imagine the team of immortals will be forced to reckon with Quynh's (understandable) rage and heartache at being left behind.

There's no word yet about when this follow-up will debut on Netflix, but Theron has previously said production will begin at some point in the first few months of 2022.