The Equalizer 4 - Will It Ever Happen?

"The Equalizer" is an origin story depicting how Robert McCall (Denzel Washington), a fastidious middle-aged widower, becomes a vigilante. Robert is friendly but evasive about his past; He has insomnia and frequents a diner where he reads novels. Eventually, he befriends an underage sex worker, Teri (Chloë Grace Moretz). After she is hospitalized by a client, Robert kills her pimp and his cronies, who are the Boston arm of a Russian organized crime syndicate. Although Robert wants to leave the violence of his life as an intelligence operative behind, he resolves to use his skills to help the helpless.

In "The Equalizer 2," Robert embraces his role as a vigilante and becomes a Lyft driver. He continues helping people anonymously, but things get personal when his friend and former colleague, Susan Plummer (Melissa Leo), is murdered in Brussels while investigating a suspicious murder-suicide. After her husband, Brian Plummer (Bill Pullman), asks Robert to find her killer, Robert discovers his old covert team is responsible for Susan's death. He goes on a rampage to exact revenge.

"The Equalizer 3" takes Robert to Southern Italy, where he must contend with the mafia. It's touted as the last installment in Antoine Fuqua's trilogy, but as any film fanatic knows, studios are reluctant to drop the curtain on a franchise as popular and financially successful as this one. Could "The Equalizer 4" ever come to pass? Maybe — but maybe not. Stick with us as we explore all that's known about this potential sequel.

Wondering if there will be a fourth film in the series might seem a bit premature. Still, film development can take years, and it isn't unusual for studios to look far into the future while charting their course. For example, Lionsgate announced "John Wick 5" was in the pipeline as early as 2020, and claimed they'd shoot the fourth and fifth films back-to-back. Although this plan didn't come to fruition, some series were filmed right after each other. After the tremendous success of "Back to the Future," director Robert Zemeckis shot the second and third films consecutively. Similarly, the final book in "The Twilight Saga" was made into two films shot back-to-back.

But this isn't the case with "The Equalizer" franchise, as there are significant time gaps between each film. The first movie dropped in September 2014, the second film was released in July 2018, and "The Equalizer 3" hit theaters in September 2023, nine years after the first film. The storyline works with the gaps between films, telling an ongoing journey about a man trying to run from his past. This could set up a fourth film quite nicely ... but it also ensures the franchise doesn't have the momentum of, say, "John Wick." There just isn't the sort of go-go-go energy that ensures a fourth film gets made.

If you're a big fan of the "Equalizer" franchise, don't get too excited about the possibility of a fourth film in the series: Antoine Fuqua put the kibosh on him and Denzel Washington making a fourth "Equalizer" film together. "I don't see another one in it for me," Fuqua told Total Film Magazine, adding, "From my conversations with Denzel, this is the final one [for him] as well."

In conversation with Empire, Fuqua was even more firm, saying, "This is it ... Robert McCall, the working-man hero, at some point he's got to walk away from it." He went on to add, "It feels like a good place to leave him" — though Washington implied this isn't what the studio wanted to hear. "No, they don't want to hear that," Fuqua agreed. "Somewhere out there they see a 4 or 5 or whatever."

There you have it: The studio might move forward with another film, but Fuqua won't be at the helm.

Robert McCall is the only character Denzel Washington has reprised during his long and illustrious career, and "The Equalizer" is the only franchise he has participated in. When embarking on the first film, the actor revealed he was unaware that he was signing up for a franchise, telling Empire he "definitely didn't know that when we did the first one. I didn't know how it would end." Still, the actor admitted to ET the reason he reprised this role once again was because it felt like "unfinished business."

"I don't want to say he's found happiness, and I don't want to give it all away, but he meets someone lovely, he's in a lovely town and he seems to be at peace," Washington told Empire, adding, "That seems to be a good place to stop." During the full interview, the actor elaborated, saying, "Which lends itself to saying there shouldn't be another one. I know the studio don't want to hear that."

"This is the end for me. It may not be the end, they may do another one, but it's the end for me," Washington told ET, joking that even a huge payday couldn't convince him to reprise the role for a fourth time, with the sneaky caveat, "Never say never." Both Washington and Antoine Fuqua confirming the studio might make another film suggests the subject has been broached, and the studio is open to the possibility of "The Equalizer 4."

Antoine Fuqua and Denzel Washington have both said "The Equalizer 3" is Robert McCall's swan song and their last installment in the franchise. But a new film in the series could be a spin-off following an existing character who becomes a new vigilante intent upon protecting the disenfranchised.

In the third film, Robert goes to war with the mafia. But of course, the mafia is an amorphous thing. "It's not just the Mafia. The world has changed now and there are other bad elements involved as well," Fuqua told Empire. "He's really dealing with the Camorra. Even the Mafia calls them 'the barbarians.' They're a little different." Imagine an "Equalizer 4" that sees a new hero rise. This person realizes Robert didn't take out the Camorra in its entirety, and sets out to finish the job once and for all. It would connect neatly to the previous film, without necessitating Washington's involvement.

"At some point someone else has to pick up the ball and serve justice. He's served his justice," Antoine Fuqua told Empire. Who might this person be? In the third film, Denzel Washington co-stars with Dakota Fanning for the first time since they worked together in 2004's "Man on Fire." "I'm a fan of the first two films, so getting to join it and be a little part of it was really amazing," Fanning told ET.

Fanning's character, Emma Collins, is a CIA agent who gets a call tipping her off about the violence in Southern Italy, where the film is set. "She meets McCall and has to figure out why he called her and what is really going on," Fanning explained. In an interview with Empire, Washington suggested that Emma could become the franchise's new vigilante if the studio decides to make a fourth film.

Fanning was effusively excited about the film, writing on Instagram, "My gratitude to share the screen once again with the legend of all legends is endless. Can't wait." Would she be down to star in a fourth installment? It certainly seems possible.

If Dakota Fanning isn't interested in becoming a new vigilante in "The Equalizer 4," Sony Pictures could do a complete reboot of the franchise with a new actor and a fresh storyline. It could also follow the three novels written by Michael Sloan, who was a co-creator of the original television series starring Edward Woodward. 

If such a tack were taken, the first movie would follow the first book's plot, which sees Robert take down a Chechen nightclub owner who also runs an assassination service. The second film would follow the second book, where Robert travels to Syria at the behest of a worried mother to save her son, an Army Captain reported as killed in action. While in Syria, Robert uncovers a terror plot by a group of mercenaries known as Momento Miro and discovers the mercenaries are led by his former boss at The Company. Robert must find his old boss, who has been erased from all records, and stop a terrorist attack on U.S. soil.

The third film would follow the last book in the series, taking Robert to North Korea on a rescue mission to save an old friend from a prison camp. Robert would also travel to the Italian Rivera, where he must contend with Momento Miro once again — all while being hunted by a group of mercenaries hired to take him out. This reboot would be more action-oriented and use the world as a stage, rather than focusing on Robert helping everyday people.

Another direction for the studio to take "Equalizer" franchise in is to make a prequel exploring Robert's time as a U.S. Marine and DIA agent. Such a series could easily land on a streaming service in a television format. Scriptwriter Richard Wenk revealed in an interview that he conceived of "The Equalizer" as an origin story, showing how Robert became a vigilante for the disenfranchised. With the popularity of series like Amazon's "Jack Ryan," there's certainly a market for such a project.

But how would such a series handle the fact that Denzel Washington has aged? By using de-aging technology, of course. As Fuqua told NME in an August 2023 interview, "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." This is all highly speculative — Fuqua went on to note, "I haven't talked to Denzel about that yet. It's all so fresh and new. I'm still watching [the technology]." Still, it's a fascinating option to consider.

In "The Equalizer 2," Robert befriends an artistically talented teenage boy, Miles Whittaker (Ashton Sanders). Robert makes a deal with Miles, promising to pay him for painting over graffiti at their apartment complex, but only if Miles continues attending school rather than joining a gang. When Robert investigates Susan's death, his former covert team kidnaps Miles to establish leverage over him. After Robert saves Miles' life, the teenage boy sees Robert as a hero and creates a comic book superhero based on him.

The studio thus has grounds to produce an animated series following the adventures of Miles' superhero: An everyday guy who helps the helpless, aided by a teenage boy who lives in the superhero's apartment building and recently lost his older brother to gang violence. In such an animated series, the teenage boy would keep the superhero's secret and become his sidekick. Together, they'd defend their community by going toe-to-toe with the gangs plaguing their neighborhood.

As screenwriter Richard Wenk said, "[Robert is] this iconic hero who speaks for those who can't and acts for those who are unable, and we're in a time in our culture where people feel voiceless and they don't get the help they need." He added that "The Equalizer" franchise gave audiences "this shining knight, you know, that lives in the shadows." If that doesn't sound like the protagonist of an engaging and gritty animated series, we don't know what does.

The film series starring Denzel Washington is actually a reboot of the original CBS series that ran for four seasons during the 1980s. In 2021, CBS rebooted that series with Queen Latifah playing Robyn McCall, a CIA agent who becomes disillusioned with her work and finds solace in helping everyday people in need.

Latifah was thrilled to take on the iconic role. "I am absolutely excited and love the fact that Denzel made this a relevant product again because I did watch the original series as a kid," Latifah said during a virtual Television Critics' press tour, as reported by Comic Book.

Despite a cool reception to the television series, "The Equalizer" reboot was renewed for both Season 3 and 4 before Season 2 finished airing. Although it isn't clear if "The Equalizer 4" will ever happen or if there will be a rebooted film series, there will be at least one more season of the television show for fans who love this renegade vigilante dedicated to helping the voiceless and disenfranchised.