Well, nobody within a range too distant from the production of J.J. Abrams‘s Star Wars: The Force Awakens saw this coming, but it appears that The Raid 2 principal stars, Iko Uwais, Yayan Ruhian and Cecep Arif Rahman will have roles of their own in the film when it releases this December.
There are no details as of yet, and it also comes as a major, MAJOR fucking surprise since their names were nowhere seen in previous reports. Nonetheless, it’s a big step up from a group that has seen its cult success rise from the recent fanbase grown stemming from the successes of director Gareth Huw Evans whose films have signaled a sizable resurgence for Indonesia’s film industry with the releases of coming-of-age martial arts drama, Merantau, and two of the currently developing Raid Trilogy.
It’s also another huge foray further into the mainstream for Uwais and Ruhian, who themselves stepped into sci-fi territory with the current sequel production of Liam O’Donnell’s Beyond Skyline, following Uwais‘s brief stint among a more international cast in Keanu Reeves’ thrilling 2013 kung fu character study, Man Of Tai Chi and Ruhian‘s crossover to Japan for Miike Takashi’s upcoming vampire spectacle, Yakuza Apocalypse: The Great War Of The Underworld. Clearly, Merantau was just the beginning, and so this news is likely to do well among anyone curious to see how well these three will will bode on either side of the force. The question is, who among these three will join the dark side and wield a lightsaber?
Whatever the case may be, after last November’s teaser and before we hear anymore news about a Han Solo spin-off, we need answers. This is too huge!
H/T: Twitchfilm