Warning: SPOILERS lie ahead for Extraction 2!Tyler Rake lives to fight another day in Chris Hemsworth’s Extraction 2. The Netflix action sequel expands Rake’s backstory, introducing his ex-wife Mia, played by Olga Kurylenko, who returns to his life for help rescuing her sister Ketevan and her kids from a Georgian prison, where they are being forced to live with her gangster husband.
Alongside Hemsworth, the cast for Extraction 2 features new and familiar faces, including Golshifteh Farahani, Adam Bessa, Olga Kurylenko, Tinatin Dalakishvili, and Idris Elba. Properly fleshing out Rake in an emotional fashion while also expanding on the first movie’s jaw-dropping action, the movie looks to be pulling the right pages from the John Wick franchise in its character and world development.
Prior to the movie’s premiere on Netflix, FilmmakerFocus spoke exclusively with director Sam Hargrave to break down Extraction 2‘s biggest spoilers, including Idris Elba’s secretive casting, plans for future sequels and spinoffs and whether Hemsworth’s rake can ever die.
Sam Hargrave Breaks Down Extraction 2 Spoilers & Future
FilmmakerFocus: Now for my next few questions, they do dive into spoiler territory. Can Tyler Rake die?
Sam Hargrave: [Laughs]
This man seems invincible. He almost dies in the first Extraction, and even in the prison break he gets stabbed, yet he keeps going throughout the movie. Is there anything that can take Tyler down?
Sam Hargrave: Well, we’ll have to have another movie or two or three and see, you know? We haven’t found anything yet that can take Tyler Rake down. He’s just a tough S.O.B., and when he gets something on his mind to accomplish, nothing’s gonna stop him, not even death! [Laughs]
It’s pretty impressive the way he just keeps going. I love though that the final fight in the film is not too showy, it’s just an all-out brawl between him and the villain. Was that something that Joe Russo envisioned, was that something you envisioned? How did that come about?
Sam Hargrave: Our final act changed many different times throughout the course of the process of putting the script together, and then in pre-production. But once we landed on the symbolism of them battling it out in a church, that, for both characters actually, was very symbolic. Tyler Rake is on a redemption story, and then our villain, who’s the hero of his own story, is on this revenge mission, but has a kind of cult-like following of these men who he leads with such vigor. So ending up there was very fitting, and we wanted it to be — or I did, definitely — raw, and it’s two men who are at the end of their rope.
Tyler has been wounded severely, the villain has been through a lot, and that’s why [we] brought Nik into that scene with the shootout, he gets shot, he’s wounded during that fight, as well. So, they’re both fighting through serious wounds, and neither one is going to give up. The villain actually says that, where they’re both laying there on the ground, it’s like, “I will not stop,” and that’s the sense we wanted to get is that neither one of these men was going to stop until one of them just either made a mistake or got the upper hand. That happened to be, because it’s his movie, Tyler Rake. [Laughs]
I loved that little moment, that was a really great touch of Tyler doesn’t even say anything, just “Bam!” Were there any iterations, since you mentioned it went through various changes, where Tyler does have some kind of last line to him?
Sam Hargrave: Yeah, there were many different variations of different comebacks and different witty one-liners. It just felt like, and Chris agreed, this was a moment where actions speak louder than words. When we tested it, the reaction was always stronger when Tyler’s answer was a bullet. It wasn’t a word, it was he’s just finished it. So, we always thought that was a very fitting end because Tyler’s a man of few words. Just to let his action speak, we thought, was fitting.
I couldn’t agree more, it was a nice little touch. One thing that really surprised me about the film was Idris Elba showing up which, obviously, he and Chris have a past in Marvel, but you guys had kept that under wraps throughout this whole thing? How did that casting come about, was that purposeful for setting up more, or was that something that, because of Chris’ history with him, was just kind of a luck of the draw?
Sam Hargrave: It was a little bit of all of the above, meaning we knew that Joe had always wanted to expand the Extraction universe, and to populate it with super talented actors who could carry their own movies in this universe and start their own franchises. It just so happened that Chris Hemsworth knew a very talented actor in Idris Elba, and when he reached out and when Idris said, “Yes,” we were all just like, “Oh my gosh, we got to see where this goes.”
Then, it just worked so well, the two of them sparkle on screen, there’s a chemistry that you can feel, it’s palpable, and it’s such a great thing to watch. Shooting with those two was such a pleasure every time we got them together. It was only a couple of days, because Idris was in and out, but that time was really fun, those two get along really great and have a special chemistry on screen.
Idris and Chris are just awesome together on screen in this one and I hope you get to come back for that third one. How is Netflix sounding, do they seem like they want more?
Sam Hargrave: The appetite is definitely there with AGBO, and with Netflix, and Chris is excited too, we all are. I think it’s one of those things where we just have to wait and see how it’s received by audiences, because if the reason that you make more of these movies is because the fans respond positively and they want more, you don’t want to force feed them stuff that they don’t want. So, hopefully, people enjoy it as you did, and the fans will tell us whether a third movie is coming or not.
Get ready, fans, because I’m excited for what’s to come. In my final question, I asked Sam Hargrave if he’s ever considered directing a Marvel movie. He revealed that while he hasn’t been approached directly, he would definitely entertain the possibility. He even had discussions about working on The Mandalorian, but unfortunately, it didn’t work out. Sam emphasized the importance of finding a character that he could bring a unique perspective to, rather than just rehashing what has already been done. He has some ideas in mind and would love to have a conversation with Kevin Feige. As for which character he’s interested in, he’s keeping that a secret for now, but promised that we’ll be the first to know if it ever comes to light.
Moving on to Extraction 2, Chris Hemsworth is back as Tyler Rake in this highly anticipated sequel. After surviving the intense events of the first film, Rake returns as the Australian badass ready for more action.In this thrilling sequel, Chris Hemsworth returns as a black ops mercenary on a dangerous mission. His task? To rescue the battered family of a ruthless Georgian gangster from a heavily guarded prison.
Teaming up once again with director Sam Hargrave, and with Joe and Anthony Russo’s AGBO producing and Joe Russo writing, Hemsworth is in for another action-packed adventure. Golshifteh Farahani reprises her role from the first film, and joining the cast are Adam Bessa, Olga Kurylenko, Daniel Bernhardt, and Tinatin Dalakishvili.
This sequel is based on the graphic novel ‘Ciudad’ by Ande Parks, with a story by Ande Parks, Joe Russo, and Anthony Russo, and illustrations by Fernando León González. EXTRACTION 2 is packed with an incredible production team, including Anthony Russo, Joe Russo, Mike Larocca, Angela Russo-Otstot, Chris Hemsworth, Patrick Newall, and Sam Hargrave. Executive producers include Jake Aust, Benjamin Grayson, Steven Scavelli, Christopher Markus, and Stephen McFeely.
Don’t miss our exclusive interview with Sam Hargrave about Extraction 2!
Extraction 2 is now available on Netflix.
