Director and Stars Say ‘The Old Guard 2’ is About Coming to Terms with Mortality

What would you do if you found out you could not die? You’d live your life doing all the craziest things because there’s no fear or risk, but, as shown in Netflix’s The Old Guard films, including the sequel – The Old Guard 2, you begin to lose your purpose… and possibly, your empathy for society.

In the first film, a group of immortals, led by 6,734-year-old warrior Andromache “Andy” (Charlize Theron), do what they can to help save people. Still, over time, they grew to believe that people can’t be saved, only to discover the positive ripple effect they had on society. With their renewed sense of purpose, The Old Guard 2 comes to terms with the inevitability of facing their mortality.

“I believe that the inquiry into [the film] is this specific aspect of the human condition of mortality and immortality is eternal,” director Victoria Mahoney tells The Nerds of Color. “Any human that lives has, at some point, faced this examination of death and what it means and what one’s life was built upon, and where we go next.”

(L-R) Luca Marinelli as Nicky, Marwan Kenzari as Joe, Charlize Theron as Andy, Chiwetel Ejiofor as Copley and KiKi Layne as Nile in The Old Guard 2. Cr. Courtesy of Netflix © 2025

Andy is shown to have become mortal, but remains a member of The Old Guard to fight for humanity. All of the immortals — Booker (Matthias Schoenaerts), Joe (Marwan Kenzari), Nicky (Luca Marinelli), and Nile (Kiki Layne) — are threatened when the oldest immortal (and billionaire) named Discord (Uma Thurman) threatens their way of life.

Of course, the topics of immortality and who can it be shared with is discussed in the first film and continues on into this one. Those with money and privilege are the only ones who can afford to search for ways to prolong their life and status.

“I wonder if it’s just maybe a human quality,” says Theron. “Some just have more luxury towards it. I don’t know what the answer is, but I know we talked about it a lot — people say, ‘I wish I had more time.’ I don’t think that has any borders. I feel it’s as human beings [we think this way]. We always regret not using time a certain way or wanting more time.”

In addition to Theron and Mahoney, we also sat down with the film’s other stars — KiKi Layne, Uma Thurman, Marwan Kenzari, Chiwetel Ejiofor, and Henry Golding.

Check out more of their answers below: