I Rewatched The Equalizer & It’s Clear Why Denzel Washington Broke His “No Sequels” Streak For It

After a rewatch of The Equalizer trilogy, I can see why Denzel Washington broke his no sequels rule to flesh out McCall. The Equalizer movies gave Washington his very first franchise, with the star having avoided sequels throughout his career. In the past, there had been sequel plans for Spike Lee’s Inside Man or Washington’s sleek neo-noir Devil in a Blue Dress, but nothing came of them. The Equalizers are the most popular of Washington and director Antoine Fuqua’s movies, with each entry finding the title character (AKA Robert McCall) righting various wrongs.

Considering Washington’s shift towards the action genre during the 2000s (as seen in the likes of Man on Fire or The Book of Eli), it made sense for him to find a series he could return to every few years. Despite The Equalizer 3’s ending teasing the end of the series, I’m glad Washington has signed on for two more entries (via Esquire). Each new movie reveals more layers to McCall as a character too, so unlike most of Washington’s movies, there were clearly more stories to tell about him.

Rewatching The Equalizer, It’s Clear Robert McCall Needed More Than 1 Movie To Explore Fully

McCall’s story was just beginning in The Equalizer

The Equalizer is a serialized story by its very nature. It was based on the hit 1980s series of the same name, where each episode saw Edward Woodward’s McCall helping out a new group of innocents. The 2014 film presented a new take on McCall, who is a widowed former government agent who, having faked his death, is living a quiet, somewhat solitary life. He clearly has a big heart, but keeps a certain distance from the people in his life, and it’s clear McCall has lost a sense of purpose following his wife’s passing.

In the John Wick movies, it’s clear that Wick is so desperate for action after his own wife’s death that he uses the murder of his dog as an excuse to kill some people. He’s lost his purpose, but whereas Wick’s outlet for his pent-up anger and grief is shooting people in the face, McCall is very different. McCall uses violence as a last resort, almost always giving evildoers the chance to stop and walk away before he equalizes the situation.

McCall avoids using guns (whenever possible) and is a master at using improvised objects to fight his way out of trouble. The Equalizer’s hero could have been a two-dimensional badass, but Washington has no interest in playing that. I love that McCall IS a badass, but he doesn’t flaunt it and prefers a good conversation over a fight. The movies give a lot of texture to McCall too, paying attention to his OCD and how the loss of his wife has affected his emotions.

The Equalizer closes with McCall at the beginning of his vigilante career, so it was already primed for sequels. Given how much potential McCall had as a character and the way audiences responded to him, it would have been a genuine shame had a follow-up not happened.

Robert McCall’s Finding Purpose In The Equalizer Was The Whole Point

The Equalizer 3 saw McCall give up his McCalling

The Equalizer 2 saw McCall fully embracing his alter ego, which included helping good people sort out ugly issues with their lives and finding the people who killed his former partner. What I find really interesting about the third movie is how it opens, which shows the toll the violence has taken on him over the years. He’s seen brutally gunning down a gangster and his henchmen, and the former warmth of the character appears to have been stomped out.

It’s only after being nursed back to health in a small Italian village that he finds his humanity again – and the place that will be his new home. Having made peace with his past and scoring a second chance to be happy, The Equalizer 3 pays off McCall’s whole arc throughout the franchise. The only downside to a fourth film happening for me is that this happy ending will need to be undone. Even so, as somebody who can’t turn away from injustice, McCall’s return to equalizing feels inevitable.

Source: Esquire