The Equalizer 3: Fans point out major issue with plan to de-age Denzel Washington

❘ Published: 2023-08-24T09:22:15

Denzel Washington in The Equalizer 3 trailer

Sony Pictures

The Equalizer 3 director is considering giving Denzel Washington the “de-aging” treatment for an origin story, but fans have pointed out one major issue with the plan.

The use of AI in the TV and movies world has been mired in controversy of late, with the ongoing actors’ and writers’ strikes calling for stricter regulation to protect creatives. However, technology has been increasingly permeating movie sets in recent years, with youth-restoring software being used to de-age actors for flashback scenes.

More recently, Harrison Ford was given the turn-back-time treatment to appear as a decades-younger adventurer in Indiana Jones 5. The same technology was used for Samuel L Jackson’s Nick Fury in Captain Marvel, Robert De Niro’s Frank Sheeran in The Irishman, and Robert Downey Jr’s Tony Stark in Captain America: Civil War.

So, when The Equalizer 3 director Antoine Fuqua announced potential plans to use AI technology to turn back the clock on Denzel Washington’s character, it wasn’t all that surprising – although fans noticed one major issue.

The Equalizer 3: Major issue with de-aging Denzel Washington

Fuqua told NME that he’s considering utilizing AI to de-age Denzel Washington and give his character Robert McCall an origin story following The Equalizer 3, but film fans were quick to point out that he could just get the actor’s son John David Washington to play the part instead.

In response to the news, one wrote on Twitter: “Or make his son do it with Denzel? Lol stop this de-aging sh*t, it never looks as good as you think it does. The Russell’s doing the Godzilla TV show playing the same character is possible y’all.”

“You know he has a son, right? Who is an actor,” said another, while a third added: “If only, I don’t know, he had, hypothetically, a son who acts and looks a lot like him…”

It’s not all that surprising that people aren’t reacting too well to the idea, considering de-aging has been a subject of controversy in recent years.

There are a number of reasons why the technique garners a mixed reaction, with critics arguing that it impacts the authenticity of a performance and takes away opportunities for younger actors – and then there’s the whole uncanny valley aspect.

Either way, it doesn’t look like anything’s set in stone just yet. As Fuqua told the outlet: “I definitely thought about it a lot. Especially now with the new technology and the AI and all of that kind of stuff… Is there a story to be told about how [McCall] became this person – the younger version? I’ve had that conversation with Richard Wenk [The Equalizer co-writer] quite a bit.”

“I haven’t talked to Denzel about that yet,” he added. “It’s all so fresh and new. I’m still watching [the technology]. I’ve watched Harrison Ford’s film and I know there’s other movies coming out.

“I think Sony has one coming out with Tom Hanks soon [Robert Zemeckis’ Here]. And I’m hearing the technology is getting better and better and better. So I’m kind of watching it to see where it goes.”

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