12 Best Movies Like The Old Guard

While we're not sure if you should read this before you watch "The Old Guard," what other movies should you watch after? Based on a graphic novel, being a stylish ensemble action film with multiple female leads, and having fantasy elements like magic and immorality put "The Old Guard" in some pretty awesome company as far as similar movies go. A few of them even share some cast and crew members.

"The Old Guard 2" is an obvious choice to follow up its predecessor now that it's finally out. But critics hate it, and despite it immediately finding its way into Netflix's top 10, the sequel hasn't been making a positive impression on fans either. So people who enjoyed the first film might be better off following it up with one of these other movies instead, each one drawing in one or more of the elements that made the original "The Old Guard" a well-received hit when it was released back in 2020. 

Among the highest-grossing superhero movies not produced by Marvel or DC is, fittingly, one that is a deconstruction of what it means to be a superhero in a movie. At least, that is the surface-level concept of "Hancock." Will Smith plays the titular character, who has the powers of a superhero but not so much the temperament. Movies where a super-powered character mostly uses his powers for good but is also kind of an a-hole aren't quite as rare today as they were in 2008 when "Hancock" was released, but such characters are still more the outlier than the standard.

So if that's just the surface-level reading of "Hancock," what's really going on in this film? That's where the movie's connection with "The Old Guard" truly comes in. "Hancock" also stars Charlize Theron, whose character initially seems like a regular, mild-mannered suburban wife and mother until it is revealed that both she and Hancock are actually ancient and powerful beings that are thousands of years old and have a literal history together. Admittedly, it's in that twist that "Hancock" loses its way a bit, but it's still a solid watch overall, especially for fans of "The Old Guard" and Theron. 

When it was revealed that Uma Thurman was part of the cast of "The Old Guard 2," much was made of her return to action movies for the first time since 2004's "Kill Bill: Vol 2." As Thurman explained while promoting "The Old Guard 2," she knew the "Kill Bill" movies would be hard to top, so she decided instead to simply step away from the genre. But she was so impressed by Charlize Theron's work in the first movie that she felt inspired to make her return, and also get the chance to work with Theron.

Unfortunately — and through no fault of Thurman's — "The Old Guard 2" isn't particularly good. So instead, it's best to just follow up a viewing of "The Old Guard" with "Kill Bill: Vol. 1" instead. Feel free to watch "Vol. 2" as well, of course, but "Vol. 1" is much heavier on the stylish action that "The Old Guard" also excels at. And just to bring things full circle, Theron told Jimmy Kimmel during the "Old Guard 2" press cycle, "When I kind of like, came into the action world, [Thurman] was really, to me, like, the sensei. She was the OG." She and Kimmel then both agreed that Thurman should have won an Oscar for "Kill Bill."

Not only is it one of Bruce Willis's best movies, but "Red" was one of the actor's last films that was both a critical and commercial success before he leaned heavily into forgettable direct-to-video work in the 2010s and beyond. In fact, it could have easily been titled "The Old Guard," as it's about a group of retired CIA agents who are forced to return to the fray once more when one of them is attacked by a hitman.

It was fun seeing Willis able to both acknowledge and also poke fun at the fact that he was an older man still leading action movies, while also proving that he could very much still lead an action movie. Morgan Freeman and John Malkovich fire some guns and throw some punches, but they obviously let Willis do the heavy lifting in that regard — though the three of them have excellent chemistry. Like "The Old Guard," "Red" is based on a comic book series — and unfortunately, also like "The Old Guard," "Red" had a highly disappointing sequel. So just watch the first entry of both franchises back to back and pretend their sequels don't exist. 

She may have portrayed iconic video game spelunker Lara Croft in two films, and "Salt" is definitely an underrated gem. But in Angelina Jolie's action career, one movie stands above the rest – the stylish 2008 fantasy action film "Wanted." Jolie's career mirrors Charlize Theron's in many ways, most notably in how both actors worked hard to avoid getting put into the narrow boxes that Hollywood often likes to keep attractive women in. And they both have often balanced complex, Oscar-winning work with fun, crowd-pleasing popcorn movies. 

From Russian director Timur Bekmambetov — and, once again, based on a comic book series — "Wanted" takes place in a world where a powerful secret society of assassins have the ability to bend the trajectory of bullets. Of course, the goals of said secret society are eventually revealed to not be quite as noble as they initially seemed. "Wanted" was more or less the movie that closed the book on Jolie playing sexy action heroes — before the actor began to transition into playing more mature types of roles and ones that didn't lean so heavily on how gorgeous she is — but what a way to close that chapter of her acting career. 

There are a number of Charlize Theron-led action movies to recommend for fans of "The Old Guard." Objectively speaking, the best one is probably "Mad Max: Fury Road" — which is one of the best action movies of all time, period. But in the interest of suggesting movies that are similar to "The Old Guard" in ways beyond just being action films featuring Theron, 2017's "Atomic Blonde" feels much more appropriate.

For starters, "Atomic Blonde" is based on a graphic novel. There is also the fact that "Atomic Blonde" sees Theron playing an elite killer spy, which has a lot more in common with her "Old Guard" character than Furiosa does. Finally, basically any action movie released in the last 10 years is automatically compared to "John Wick" — and "Atomic Blonde" is a lot more similar to "John Wick" than most. Plus, if you've already seen it, there are things you only notice in "Atomic Blonde" after watching it again, so it still makes for a great double feature with "The Old Guard" even if it won't be your first time taking the trip. 

Whether or not Wolverine is really immortal is often the subject of fan debate and speculation, but one thing is certain about the iconic Marvel anti-hero — his healing factor has slowed his aging to such a degree that he was pushing 200 years old in "Logan" and could still kick plenty of butt. If the idea of characters having healing powers that allow them to live far beyond the typical human lifespan sounds familiar, it's because that's essentially how the characters in "The Old Guard" got to be quasi-immortal. There's also the fact that they are mercenaries, and which Marvel character is known as the "Merc with the Mouth"?

"Deadpool and Wolverine" is a lot sillier, a lot more violent, and certainly a lot more vulgar than "The Old Guard," and there are other Wolverine movies that might be a bit more thematically and stylistically similar to the latter. But "Deadpool and Wolverine" still feels like the best recommendation for "Old Guard" fans, not only because "X-Men Origins: Wolverine" was awful, but "The Wolverine" and "Logan" are a bit too heavy. As for the other "Deadpool" movies, Wolverine's not in them. So for another fun, stylish action movie that also has mercenaries as well as characters who can self-heal against the effects of aging, "Deadpool and Wolverine" is the way to go. 

You can't discuss fantasy action movies about immortals within mentioning the fantasy action movie about immortals — 1986's "Highlander." We're specifically referring to the 1986 "Highlander" movie, as every single attempt since to turn the property into a franchise has fallen flat on its face. The 1991 sequel is considered one of the worst movies of all time, and subsequent movies and TV shows have barely been any better. The movie's mantra, "there can only be one," has never been more self-fulfilling.

But the first "Highlander" is a certified cult classic and remains worth watching to this day. When two men, Connor MacLeod (Christopher Lambert) and Iman Fasil (Peter Diamond), get into a sword fight in the parking garage of Madison Square Garden, they trigger a series of events that exposes 1985 New York City to a battle between immortal beings that has been raging for at least 500 years. It's definitely 1980s action movie cheese, complete with wonderfully ridiculous original songs written and performed by Queen. But "Highlander" is tons of fun, with Lambert understanding the assignment and Sean Connery giving a surprisingly self-aware performance.

Speaking of 1980s action movie cheese, Sylvester Stallone was clearly feeling that a celebration of that era was needed in the 21st century. So he helped to conceive "The Expendables," a film about a group of mercenaries played by a who's who of action stars from not only the '80s and '90s but also the modern era — or rather, the modern era of 2010, when the movie was released. Jason Statham, Randy Couture, and Terry Crews were meant to be the "current crop" of action heroes represented in the film, but their era is now as old as Stallone's was when "The Expendables" came out.

The plot isn't important, really. It's all just an excuse for the aforementioned stars to join the likes of Dolph Lundgren, Jet Li, and Mickey Rourke for an all-out orgy of action movie royalty coming together to blow stuff up. The scene that includes Stallone, Bruce Willis, and Arnold Schwarzenegger was almost as epic as Mickey Mouse and Bugs Bunny sharing a scene together in "Who Framed Roger Rabbit," but it only amounted to cameos from the latter two. They'd have bigger roles in the sequel, but the original "Expendables" remains the best. Deep dive into the franchise at your own risk after finishing your mercenary ensemble action movie double feature of "The Old Guard" and "The Expendables." 

More ensemble action goodness based on a comic book series comes in hot by way of "Kingsman: The Secret Service." Directed by Matthew Vaughn, who helped to successfully revive the "X-Men" movie franchise with "X-Men: First Class," "Kingsman" was a pleasant surprise when it was released in 2014. For those that knew nothing of the source material, they still fell in love with the movie's fun take on James Bond-style action, but with a heavier emphasis on comedy as well as teamwork.

Like "The Old Guard," the titular group in "Kingsman" is also a organization with an extensive legacy that has long protected its ability to keep its clients — and the world at large — at arm's length while carrying out missions to protect both. Taron Egerton scored his breakout role as the group's newest recruit, but much was made about his reserved co-star Colin Firth proving surprisingly proficient and holding his own in the action hero space. 

Sequel "Kingsman: The Golden Circle" and prequel "The King's Man" have thus far produced increasingly diminishing returns, but it still feels like the franchise has enough potential to course correct itself back into moviegoers' good graces — especially if Vaughn is at the helm, since he's obviously skilled at that type of thing.

Long before the Marvel Cinematic Universe ventured into the world of immortal beings in a big way with "Eternals," there was already a Marvel movie — and a much better one to boot — starring a nearly-immortal character. "Blade," released in 1998 and starring Wesley Snipes as the half-human, half-vampire hybrid who hunts other bloodsuckers, is often considered the first successful Marvel movie, and is one of the few that's rated R. 

It also helped to establish a new language for sci-fi and action films, one that a lot of people give "The Matrix" the bulk of the credit for even though "Blade" beat it to theaters by a year. The camera moves, the editing, the costumes, and that throbbing electronic soundtrack might date "Blade" a bit, but things have now come back around to all that '90s style, with excess feeling nostalgic rather than passe. It remains to be seen if the MCU's Blade movie will ever come together, but even if it does, it will be tough to top the groundbreaking original. 2002's "Blade II" isn't quite as good but is still well worth watching, while "Blade: Trinity" unfortunately ended the trilogy on a sour note.

The legacy of the 2009 Zack Snyder-directed "Watchmen" movie is a complicated one indeed. It has been called everything from a masterpiece and one of the best comic book movies of all time to a complete disaster. But a few things are certain that make it an objectively compelling recommendation for fans of "The Old Guard." One, it's full of incredibly stylish fight scenes and action set pieces. And two, it's about a collective who have been fighting together for a long time but now find themselves the target of a conspiratorial adversary who aims to take them down in ways they need to figure out before it's too late. 

"Watchmen" also remains an interesting curio in the history of comic book movie adaptations and the progression of the action movie genre during the last 20 years in general. Additionally, it's a fascinating case study in the difference between a movie that has been disowned entirely by one of the creators of the original work — Alan Moore — versus "The Old Guard," which has a screenplay written by the comic's creator, Greg Rucka.

First and foremost, "The Woman King" is just an overall fantastic action movie that not enough people saw. It is loosely based on real historical events, telling the story of a West African general named Nanisca (Viola Davis) who leads an all-female group of warriors in battle against Portuguese slave traders to liberate the enslaved in the mid-19th century. Just being a great action film with multiple female leads would have been enough to recommend it to "The Old Guard" fans, but there is a more direct connection between the two movies.

In fact, "The Old Guard" and "The Woman King" share a director — Gina Prince-Bythewood. The former was her first foray into the action genre, which then paved the way for what is admittedly the better of the two films by a significant margin. In fact, it was specifically because Prince-Bythewood was busy with production of 2022's "The Woman King" that she was unable to commit to returning to direct "The Old Guard 2." Whether "The Old Guard 2" would have turned out better had she directed it is impossible to say, but what matters here is that "The Woman King" is awesome and people should watch it.