The Equalizer 3 Will Be the Last Time Denzel Washington Plays the Righteous Assassin
Denzel Washington and Antoine Fuqua feel that The Equalizer 3 is the best way to end Robert McCall’s story.
BY Jonathan Fuge
August 1, 2023
Academy Award winner and Hollywood icon Denzel Washington is ready to hang up his aged action hero franchise The Equalizer in the upcoming sequel, The Equalizer 3. Speaking with Empire Magazine (who have also released a new image of the actor in action), Washington believes that this will be last time he plays the mysterious, redemption-seeking assassin Robert McCall on the big screen. Check out what the acclaimed actor had to say below.
“I don’t want to say he’s found happiness, and I don’t want to give it all away, but he meets someone lovely, he’s in a lovely town and he seems to be at peace. That seems to be a good place to stop.”
Washington first played McCall, and thus rebooted the 1980s TV series of the same name, almost a decade ago in 2014. And for Washington, he had no idea he would still be playing the character across a trilogy.
“I didn’t know that there were going to be three. Definitely didn’t know that when we did the first one. I didn’t know how it would end.”
A new image of Washington has also been released and finds the actor back with gun in hand and a look of stoic righteousness on his face.
Vengeance meets his equal in The Equalizer 3. Since giving up his life as a government assassin, Robert McCall (Denzel Washington) has struggled to reconcile the horrific things he’s done in the past and finds a strange solace in serving justice on behalf of the oppressed. Finding himself surprisingly at home in Southern Italy, he discovers his new friends are under the control of local crime bosses. As events turn deadly, McCall knows what he has to do: become his friends’ protector by taking on the mafia.
The Equalizer 3 Is the Final Chapter in the Action Series
Denzel Washington is not the only one who feels that the upcoming threequel will be the end for Robert McCall. Returning director Antoine Fuqua, who has helmed all three of The Equalizer movies, feels the same.
“This is it. Robert McCall, the working-man hero, at some point he’s got to walk away from it. At some point someone else has to pick up the ball and serve justice. He’s served his justice. He’s in a foreign place, he’s trying to find a home, find a place in the world. That’s really what’s important.”
This being the final movie, audiences will finally find out some details regarding Robert’s mysterious past. “Hopefully, reveal a little more about Robert,” Fuqua has said previously. “Yeah, I think that’s the key, to learn more about Robert McCall.”
Directed by Antoine Fuqua and written by Richard Wenk, The Equalizer 3 stars Dakota Fanning (Man on Fire, War of the Worlds), Andrea Scarduzio (Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One), David Denman (Mare of Easttown), Sonia Ben Ammar (Scream), Remo Girone (Ford v Ferrari), and Eugenio Mastrandrea (From Scratch) alongside Washington.
The Equalizer 3 is set to be released on September 1, 2023, by Sony Pictures Releasing.